
Class _SB_4iJIiL 
Book O 6 



Copyright N" . 

COF»{IGHT DEPOSm 



E{)e Eural ^citnct ^txm 

Edited by L. H. BAILEY 



LANDSCAPE-GARDENING 



Cije Eural <Scicnce Serirs 

Edited by L. H. Bailey 

The Soil. King. 

The Spraying of Plants. Lodeman. 

Milk AND Its Products. Wing. Enlarged and Bevised. 

The Fertility of the Land. Boberts. 

The Principles of Fruit-growing. Bailey. 20th 

Edition, Bevised. 
Bush-fruits. Card. Bevised. 
Fertilizers. Voorhees. Bevised. 
The Principles of Agriculture. Bailey. Bevised. 
Irrigation and Drainage. King. 
The Farmstead. Boberts. 
Rural Wealth and Welfare. Fairchild. 
The Principles of Vegetable-gardening. Bailey. 
Farm Poultry. Watson. Enlarged and Bevised. 
The Feeding of Animals. Jordan. (Now Rural 

Text-Book Series. Bevised.) 
The Farmer's Business Handbook. Boberts. 
The Diseases of Animals. Mayo. 
The Horse. Boberts. 
How TO Choose a Farm. Hunt. 
Forage Crops. Voorhees. 

Bacteria in Relation to Country Life. Lipman. 
The Nursery-book. Bailey. (Now Rural Manual 

Series.) 
Plant-breeding. Bailey and Gilbert. Bevised. 
The Forcing-book. Bailey. 

ThePruning-book. Bailey. (Now Rural Manual Series.) 
Fruit-growing in Arid Regions. Paddock and Whipple. 
Rural Hygiene. Ogden. 
Dry-farming. Widtsoe. 
Law for the American Farmer. Green. 
Farm Boys and Girls. McKeever. 
The Training and Breaking of Horses. Harper. 
Sheep-farming in North America. Craig. 
Cooperation in Agriculture. Powell. 
The Farm Woodlot. Cheyney and Wentling. 
Household Insects. Herrick. 
Citrus Fruits. Coit. 

Principles of Rural Credits. Morman. 
Beekeeping. Phillips. 

Subtropical Vegetable-gardening. Bolfs. 
Turf for Golf Courses. Piper and Oakley. 
The Potato. Gilbert. 
Strawberry-growing. Fletcher. 
Western Live-Stock Management. Potter. 
Peach-growing. Gould. 
The Sugar-Beet in America. Harris. 
Pork-Production. Smith. 
Landscape-Gardening. Simonds. 
Commercial Apple Industry of North America. 

Folger and Thomson. 
The Sweet Potato. Hand and Cockerham. 



LANDSCAPE-GARDENING 



BY 
O: C. SIMONDS 



THE MACMILLAN COMPANY 

1920 

All rights reserved 






Copyright, 1930, 
Bv THE MACMILLAN COMPANY. 



Set up and electrotyped. Published October, 1920 



g)CI.A604318 






n^« / 



o 



DEDICATED TO THE MEMORY OF 

BRYAN LATHROP 

TO WHOM ALL FINE ARTS MADE A STRONG APPEAL 

AND WHOSE INFLUENCE HAS BEEN FELT IN 

EACH PAGE OF THIS VOLUME AND 

IN ALL THE PROFESSIONAL 

WORK OF THE AUTHOR 



CONTENTS 



CHAPTER I 

The Aims of Landscape-Gardening 
The art expression 



PAGES 

1-25 
19-25 



CHAPTER H 

The Saving of Natural Features and Resources 
Each for all ....... . 



26-39 
29-39 



CHAPTER HI 



Land 



40-45 



CHAPTER IV 



Planting Materials . 

Trees .... 
Shrubs .... 
Vines .... 
Herbaceous flowering plants 
Ferns .... 
Mosses and lichens 



46-57 
47-50 
5c^53 
53-55 
55-56 
56-57 
57 



CHAPTER V 
Arrangement of Planting 



58-67 



CHAPTER VI 



How TO Plant . 

Planting medium-sized trees 
Planting large trees 



68-83 

70-72 
72-76 



vlii CONTENTS 

Planting bushes and herbaceous subjects 
Care of plant materials 



PAGES 

76-78 

78-83 



CHAPTER VII 



Water 


. 84-117 


Marshes .... 


84-86 


Springs 


86-88 


Streams .... 


88-104 


Lakes 


. 104-117 



CHAPTER VIII 

Home Grounds 1 18-169 

Walks and drives 124-138 

Garages ......... 138-140 

Service yards . . . . . . . . 1 40-1 41 

Front yards 141-153 

Flower-gardens ........ 153-157 

Vegetable-gardens ....... 157-158 

Terraces ......... 159-161 

Hedges .......... 161 

House surroundings ....... 161-162 

Woods 162-169 



CHAPTER IX 

Farms 

The farm forest .... 
The farm orchard and other features 



170-184 
176-182 
182-184 



CHAPTER X 
Landscape-Gardening for Arid and Semi-arid Regions 185-191 



CHAPTER XI 

Public Thoroughfares , . 192-223 

The hillside road ........ 199-206 



CONTENTS 



IX 



PAGES 

The river road 206-211 

The prairie road ........ 211-217 

City streets ......... 217-222 

Bill-boards 223 



CHAPTER XII 
The Grounds of Railway Stations and Rights of Way 



224-231 



CHAPTER XIII 



Parks, Forest Preserves, City Squares 








232-262 


Planning a park 






237-242 


Grounds for games or recreation 










242-246 


Other purposes of a park 










247-248 


The park commission . 












248-250 


Forest preserves 












250-253 


City squares and triangles 












253-256 


Country parks 












256-257 


Township parks . 












257-258 


County parks 












258-260 


State parks . 












260-261 


National parks 












261-262 



CHAPTER XIV 

Golf Grounds 263-272 

CHAPTER XV 

School Grounds 273-280 

In the country ........ 273-278 

In cities 278-280 

CHAPTER XVI 

Arboretums and Botanic Gardens .... 281-289 

Botanic gardens 286-289 



CONTENTS 



CHAPTER XVII 



Cemeteries .... 

Subdivisions, walks and drives 
Buildings and planting . 
Rules for maintaining cemeteries 
Country cemeteries 




PAGES 
290-309 
293-296 
297-299 
301-307 
307-309 



CHAPTER XVIII 
City and Regional Planning . 



3io-320_ 



APPENDIX 
A Plea for Landscape-Gardening . 
Parks and Landscape-Gardening . 



321-325 
325-331 



LANDSCAPE-GARDENING 



LANDSCAPE-GARDENING 

CHAPTER I 

The Aims of Landscape-Gardening 

The purpose of this book is to help make our 
country more beautiful. " Our country " refers es- 
pecially to the United States, although in prepar- 
ing the text the author has also had in mind all 
those parts of Canada in which climatic conditions, 
general appearance, and habits of thought are simi- 
lar to our own, and he further acknowledges a sym- 
pathy with Thomas Paine's statement, " The world 
is my country." One's country includes all indi- 
vidual homes and the thoroughfares that make 
them accessible, all public grounds such as city 
squares, school and church yards, parks, ceme- 
teries, railroad rights of way, golf courses, national 
monuments, parks and forests, all streams and 
lakes, all shores and all land upon which one 
may walk without feeling that he is trespassing. It 
includes the atmosphere, with its rain and sunshine, 



2 LANDSCAPE-GARDENING 

its fogs and clouds, its hail and snow, its storms and 
calms. It comprises night and day and all the 
seasons. It includes the rocks, and all material and 
living things within its boundaries. 

Why seek to make the country beautiful ? To 
many persons this question and its answer may seem 
unnecessary, the love of the beautiful is so nearly 
universal. To say that anything looks well usually 
secures its adoption or approval. Still, there are 
some persons who seem to be indifferent to appear- 
ances, and for them a few thoughts may be helpful. 

Nature, from the greatest snow-covered mountains 
and broadest seas to the tiniest pollen-grain or 
smallest of spores, is beautiful and perfect. Happi- 
ness comes in largest measure to those who live in 
closest harmony with nature. It has been said that 
beauty pays, and this is undoubtedly true. A farm 
that looks well, other conditions being equal, will 
sell for more than one that appears bare and ugly 
or slovenly. A beautiful horse or cow, or an at- 
tractive dish or tool, will bring the highest price. 
But if one thinks of dollars and cents only, one does 
not get the full meaning of the word "pays." 
Beauty pays by giving pleasure to those who see 
it. One can help to make one's country more 



THE AIMS OF LANDSCAPE-GARDENING 3 

beautiful by making its home grounds, its road- 
sides, its river banks, its parks, intrinsically better 
in appearance and by opening the eyes of those 
who fail to see such beauty as already exists. 

The art that accomplishes this has usually been 
called landscape-gardening, and is the youngest of 
the arts. It was given a special impetus in the 
latter part of the eighteenth and the first part 
of the nineteenth centuries. To be sure, beautiful 
gardens and landscapes have existed since the time 
of the Garden of Eden, but the desire to create 
beautiful scenery and to treat its creation in a pro- 
fessional way first appeared in Europe at a com- 
paratively recent date. It was the result of the 
effort to improve and organize the landscape. Rep- 
ton, in the introduction to his "Sketches and Hints 
on Landscape Gardening," published in 1795, said, 
"I have adopted the term Landscape Gardening, 
as most proper, because the art can only be advanced 
and perfected by the united powers of the land- 
scape painter and the practical gardener." 

The powers of the practical gardener are such as 
are common in all agricultural pursuits, and presup- 
pose some knowledge of soils, fertilizers, tillage, 
planting, spraying, and the care of plants in general. 



4 LANDSCAPE-GARDENING 

The power of the landscape painter as applied to 
pictures formed by real objects, to the creation of 
landscapes, to the study, appreciation, and develop- 
ment of beautiful scenery is the distinguishing feature 
of the art now under consideration. What power 
has the landscape painter ? He depicts scenery 
upon canvas. One looks at his productions and 
realizes the warmth of spring sunshine in a valley, 
the majesty of a mountain, the force of the ocean, 
the beauty of the pink glow of evening on the snow, 
the charm of woods, running streams, water margins, 
and open glades. One almost feels the wind, the 
warmth of a summer evening, the cool atmosphere 
of the morning, the dampness of a rainy day, or the 
cold but delightful beauty of winter. How does the 
painter get this power ? He learns how to draw and 
how to use pencils, charcoal, crayons, water-colors, 
oils, and pigments in the schools, but his chief in- 
spiration, the source of his real power, comes from the 
out-of-doors. He looks abroad over the land, his 
range of vision stretching away on nearly horizontal 
lines to distant points. His canvas rests upon the 
easel in a nearly vertical position so that he can 
glance easily from the object he is depicting to the 
representation of that object (Fig. i). 



THE AIMS OF LANDSCAPE-GARDENING 5 




6 LANDSCAPE-GARDENING 

The landscape-gardener works in the same way. 
He studies the out-of-doors. He looks at nature 
on lines usually varying but a few degrees from the 
horizontal. He notes the sky lines, the masses of foli- 
age, the lights and shadows, the varying colors and 
shapes of leaves and flowers, the lay of the land, the 
reflections in water. He learns the things that make 
a view pleasing, and then when he grades lands, 
plants trees, shrubs, and flowers, introduces water, 
rocks, or other objects, he makes use of the pleasing 
effects he has learned to produce pleasing scenery 
appropriate to the situation and the locality. His 
canvas, the background for his work, is the sky. 
Against this he may see the earth itself, the ocean, 
mountains, hills, prairies, or forests. Against this 
canvas he plants trees and other objects to form a 
pleasing composition, a picture if you will, and if 
he is wise and has the opportunity he will leave a 
generous open space on his canvas for nature to fill in 
with clouds and sunshine, with stars and moonlight. 

Nature indeed is a most helpful and willing partner 
in all the real work of a landscape-gardener, and also 
his best teacher. She teaches other artists as well, 
but for the one who tries to help her in beautifying 
the earth or in keeping it beautiful, she produces 



THE AIMS OF LANDSCAPE-GARDENING 7 

an Infinite variety of plant growth and plant-food ; 
she brings rain and warmth and sunshine ; she 
provides air to breathe and a stimulating compan- 
ionship to encourage growth and beauty ; and she 
spreads a protecting blanket in winter. 

The painter completes his painting in a few hours 
or days. It may then remain for years just as left 
by his finishing touches. The landscape-gardener, 
on the other hand, must wait years for the picture 
he conceives to develop fully. His conception of the 
eflfect he wishes to produce may be the result of min- 
utes or days of study. It is gained as quickly as 
the painter's idea of his composition, and the time 
required for recording his conception on paper is 
comparatively brief. Sometimes the scheme he has 
in mind will be worked out directly on the ground 
without the use of drawings. The result he is 
after is out-doors, and as it is usually produced by 
living things — trees, shrubs, flowers, grass, and 
various ground-covering plants — which necessarily 
change, it becomes a moving picture. In other 
words, his efforts result in a series of pictures or 
effects resembling each other but gradually ap- 
proaching his ideal. His skill will depend first on 
this ideal, on his ability to form a satisfactory 



8 LANDSCAPE-GARDENING 

composition, to imagine a view with lights and 
shades in proper relations to each other, with har- 
monious outlines and colors — in short, on his appre- 
ciation of beauty ; and next on his success in grading, 
selecting materials, planting, outlining open areas, 
lakes, woods, groups of trees and shrubs, the selec- 
tion and placing of herbaceous plants, and in his 
treatment of water, rocks, buildings, and other 
objects that may appear against his canvas. 

Certain rules should govern his work. There 
should be unity. This means that from a given 
point looking in one direction there should be one 
picture and in this picture some special feature 
should predominate. The rule of unity is violated 
when, in looking out of a window, one sees two 
vistas, two or more dominating trees, two lakes, two 
valleys, two hills or two mountains of equal impor- 
tance. It is violated when a garden with bright 
colored flowers, pergolas and seats is made to com- 
pete with a view of the ocean. There may indeed 
be flowers in the ocean view, but they should be 
incidental, like clover blossoms in a meadow, the 
blossoms of apple trees, lilacs or locusts. Green 
foliage, rocks and trees may enhance the ocean view, 
helping to frame it or at least not competing with 



THE AIMS OF LANDSCAPE-GARDENING 9 

what should be the main feature of the picture. 
What is true of an ocean view would be true of a 
mountain view (Fig. 2) or of a picture in which a 
valley or lake, a lawn, a house, the prairie, a distant 
city, or a church spire formed the dominating feature 




Fig. 2. — Sufficient unto Itself. It would be unwise to have an artificial 
flower-garden or any other artificial feature compete with a view like 
this. 



(Fig. 3). There may be several pictures seen from 
one point, if they are in different directions, but 
they should usually be separated from each other by 
some object such as a tree, a bit of woods, or a mass 
of shrubs. 

In landscape work the fact that the point of view 



lO 



LANDSCAPE-GARDENING 



can easily be changed must be constantly borne in 
mind. It may be a window, a veranda, a seat under 
a tree or in a boat, any point along a walk or drive, 




Fig. 3. — The Point of Interest. What is true of an ucean view 
in regard to unity would be true of a picture in whicli ... a 
church spire formed the dominating feature. 

or any position one may be in while strolling about 
the grounds. The landscape-gardener, therefore, 
designs a great number of landscapes in one piece of 



THE AIMS OF LANDSCAPE-GARDENING ii 

work, in all of which the rule of unity as well as the 
other rules to be mentioned will have a guiding in- 
fluence. These rules also govern in pictures that 
are painted, in music, architecture, sculpture, and 



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Fig. 4. — A Lake Scene in Scotland. The island and the mountain are too 
nearly equal in value. If the island were shown much smaller in relation 
to the mountain the composition would be better. 

literature. There should be balance (Fig. 5), but 
this does not mean that one side of a view should be 
just like the other. A tree may be balanced by a 
shrub, a rock by a building, a mass of flowers by a 
single blossom. A judicious arrangement of light 



12 



LANDSCAPE-GARDENING 




Fig. 5. — A Rocky Precipice Balanced by a Tree. A landscape-gardener 
is indeed fortunate if he can appropriate a scene like this. 



THE AIMS OF LANDSCAPE-GARDENING 13 

and shade is desirable. In a well-designed land- 
scape there should be harmony of shapes, sizes and 
colors. A plant with foliage like the yucca would 
not be pleasing next to a maiden-hair fern. The 
leaves of pieplant do not harmonize with those of 
the rose. Magenta flowers do not go well with 
scarlet. A certain amount of contrast and variety 
give life to a landscape but if used to excess they 
may deprive it of repose. Repetition in landscapes 
as in painting tends to make a scene restful. 

Thus all the rules of composition that are ap- 
plicable to paintings apply also to landscapes de- 
signed or appropriated by landscape-gardeners. 
A painter sometimes speaks of the "heaven-born 
ratio of three to two," meaning that the focal point, 
the point to which the eye continually reverts, 
should be three units from one side and two from 
the other side of the canvas, and the same ratio 
from the top and bottom, instead of being in the 
center. The same ratio serves well in design- 
ing an actual landscape, since a tree or other sub- 
ject placed directly in the center usually looks badly 
(Fig. 6). The interest in any view is increased by 
an arrangement which piques one's curiosity. In 
illustration of this, think of woods into which one 



H 



LANDSCAPE-GARDENING 



gets glimpses leading to unknown depths, bays of 
lakes disappearing behind islands or promontories, 




Fig. 6. — A Glimpse Through the Woods. Compare 
this with any picture in which a tree occupies the 
center. 

lawns partly hidden by projecting groups of shrubs. 
These give possible opportunities for making dis- 



THE AIMS OF LANDSCAPE-GARDENING 15 

coveries, and such opportunities compete with va- 
riety in giving spice to Hfe. The shape of a tree, 
the graceful or strong arrangement of its branches, 
the outlines and texture of its leaves, the color and 
forms of flowers, the curves of the earth's surface, 
the reflections in water — are all objects of interest 
and beauty, but beyond all these in making a view 
interesting are the elements of curiosity and mys- 
tery. 

While landscape-gardening is more nearly al- 
lied to painting than to any other fine art, in some 
ways it more nearly resembles architecture. These 
are the utilities. Architecture is concerned with 
many matters not particularly connected with beauty. 
These are for the comfort, safety and use of those 
occupying buildings. In like manner, landscape- 
gardening is concerned with walks, drives, gardens, 
fences, location of buildings, and other features 
having to do with the comfort, convenience, and 
use of mankind. There Is a similarity also in the 
professional methods of landscape-gardeners and 
architects. 

The grading of surfaces, which Is an important 
part of the landscape-gardener's work, is not un- 
like the work of sculptors, while the planting ma- 



i6 LANDSCAPE-GARDENING 

terial he uses makes an appeal to the senses of smell, 
taste, and feeling not made by the other fine arts. 
In illustration of this appeal, think of the smell of 
the rose, the woods, the meadows, the sweetbriers, 
the hundreds of flowers of the old-fashioned gar- 
den, the taste of fruits, sassafras and all the prod- 
ucts of vegetation, the feel of a mullein leaf, the 
bark of trees, the velvety lawn, the polished sur- 
faces of cherries, the breeze from the sea, the water 
in the swimming pool, the snow and ice of winter. 

Landscape-gardening, more than any other art, 
makes use of the natural sciences. Geology, bot- 
any, and chemistry are of special importance, and 
there is hardly any line of study that will not make 
the landscape-gardener better equipped for the 
work he has in hand and better able to meet and 
discuss with his clients the many subjects that go 
with the development of land. Even if one should 
not intend to take up landscape work as a pro- 
fession, there are few subjects the study of which 
will do more for one's general culture. An appre- 
ciation of attractive scenery will add to the enjoy- 
ment of life, the pleasure of reading and to one's 
interest in the history of the world. The Japanese 
have professors of the arrangement of flowers and 



THE AIMS OF LANDSCAPE-GARDENING 17 

this subject is taught in their colleges. The study 
of landscape, embracing, as it does, all that one sees 
out-of-doors, is one of the broadest of subjects. 
It is far more important as a fine art than paint- 
ing, sculpture, architecture, flower arrangement 
and gardening, since it includes in a general way 
all of these, and its principles are those of all the 
other arts. 

It follows, therefore, that the landscape-gardener 
works with his imagination. This is true in a 
greater or less degree of other men, but, for the 
landscape-gardener it is preeminently so. He 
must be a dreamer, a designer, an inventor, a cre- 
ator, — a dreamer more than most designers be- 
cause it may take years for his designs to develop. 
He not only dreams but he creates, working with 
land, plants, water, rocks, buildings, roads, and 
bridges. He puts two and two together, joining 
the work of the architect or engineer with that of 
nature. His aim is to produce beautiful outdoor 
scenery, the scenery that includes all one sees 
whenever he walks or rides through country or city. 
He is often called a "landscape architect," but 
architect implies building, working with lumber, 
bricks, stone, mortar, glass, metals, in short, ma- 



1 8 LANDSCAPE-GARDENING 

terials that are for the most part rigid and fixed. 
The work of the landscape-gardener is largely with 
things that are alive, growing, changing. As Bryan 
Lathrop has said, "It is not the name so much as 
the idea behind it which is objectionable." To use 
the word "architect" tends to take away that free- 
dom and gracefulness that should go with the 
development of beautiful landscapes. The term 
"landscape engineer," which has also been used, 
is even more objectionable than "landscape archi- 
tect," since engineering is not a fine art, and, while 
the products of engineering may and ought to be 
beautiful, its aim is strength rather than beauty. 
"Landscape designer" is not so objectionable, 
since it indicates the character of the work under- 
taken by the man to whom it is applied. 

A "landscape-gardener" is one who may be 
thought of as trying to produce a Garden of Eden, 
a garden which is purely imaginary but is thought 
of as the work of a Power greater than man and 
more beautiful than anything the present genera- 
tion has seen. The aim of the landscape-gar- 
dener is high, and this term, while not free from ob- 
jections, conveys the correct idea. 

All of the various terms employed are objec- 



THE AIMS OF LANDSCAPE-GARDENING 19 

tionablc because each contains two words. 
"Landscape" Is common to all, and if but one word 
were to be used, "landscaper" would seem to be 
the most appropriate. It would be used just as 
Is "painter." The "landscaper" would landscape 
a tract of land, a park or a home. His work would 
be "landscaping," and when finished, the tract of 
land on which he had worked would be "land- 
scaped." 

The term used in this volume Is the one that has 
been generally adopted by those who have written 
on the subject of which It treats, among whom the 
name of A. J. Downing stands prominently, be- 
cause the wide influence of his writings entitles 
him to the distinction of being considered the 
father of landscape-gardening in this country. 

In the following pages the materials employed 
in this art and some of the general principles of 
the art will first be considered ; and then the prin- 
ciples will be applied to the treatment of special 
cases. 

THE ART EXPRESSION 

The beginning of every fine art is hidden in ob- 
scurity. It has been gradually developed until 



20 LANDSCAPE-GARDENING 

it attained a great degree of perfection. It may- 
be surmised that there was a time when men and 
women could not sing, and when there were no 
musical instruments. Probably the earliest repre- 
sentatives of the human race could utter pleas- 
ing sounds, but it must have taken a long time to 
develop tunes, to learn the harmony of music, 
and ages to perfect such instruments as the violin, 
the clarinet, the organ, and the piano. The de- 
votion to music was such, however, that this fine 
art became part of the life of every civilized nation. 
Music is needed at most social gatherings and at 
nearly all religious exercises. It Is necessary in 
war and in peace. It is capable of exciting emo- 
tions of patriotism, of joy, and of sadness. It forms 
not only a part of the life of a nation, but domi- 
nates, to some extent, the lives of many individuals 
and families. 

The development of sculpture doubtless began 
in rude attempts, like those seen today among 
some savage tribes, and continued with the progress 
in civilization until it culminated in Greece more 
than two thousand years ago. While this fine art 
does not make so universal an appeal as does music, 
it nevertheless exerts a powerful influence. 



THE AIMS OF LANDSCAPE-GARDENING 21 

The different styles of architecture have cul- 
minated at various periods, but each, during its 
development, has been understood and appre- 
ciated by all classes of persons and has really formed 
part of the life of the nation or nations where it 
came to its greatest perfection. 

Poetry and the art of verbal expression kept pace 
with music, sculpture, and architecture, and at 
present no art exerts a greater influence. One 
can scarcely imagine a civilization without books. 
Literature, indeed, lies at the foundation of modern 
life. 

Painting and the graphic arts reached the high- 
est development they have attained somewhat later 
than the arts that have just been named. The 
development of the fine art of making pictures, in 
so far as they represent landscapes, is compara- 
tively recent. Such pictures now form an impor- 
tant part of the paintings seen in art galleries, 
public buildings, and residences. They appear 
abundantly among the illustrations of books and 
periodicals. 

Landscape-gardening Is now in the process of 
development. One or two generations ago there 
were less than a half dozen firms following this pro- 



22 LANDSCAPE-GARDENING 

fession in the United States. Even now, but a 
small percentage of all the people know that there 
is such a profession, and of those who have heard 
of it only a few know what it really is. Before 
it reaches its full development, it also must become 
a part of the life of the people. 

If, as stated above, this art of landscape-garden- 
ing is growing, what will be its final attainment ? 
What will it do for the people ? 

If properly guided in its growth, it will teach them 
to see the beauty of nature, the beauty of this world, 
of which many are now as ignorant as the ten-year- 
old boy was of the beauty of sunsets before his 
attention was called to them. 

It will bring about a different spirit with regard 
to beauty wherever seen. There are many who 
regard anything which is beyond or outside of 
what is generally called "practical" as something 
foolish, wasteful, and effeminate, not realizing 
that it is the beautiful which makes life worth 
living. 

It will open the eyes of farmers and their families 
to the beauty that is always around them in the 
sky and in their fields, and, if they possess them, in 
their wood-lots, their orchards, springs, streams, 



THE AIMS OF LANDSCAPE-GARDENING 23 

and hedgerows, and in the birds that delight in 
bushes and trees. It will enable those who live 
in the country to get far greater pleasure from 
life than many do at present, and will stimulate 
them to beautify their homes and take pride in their 
surroundings, their work, and their free health- 
ful lives. It will prevent a farmer from renting 
his field or his barn for a bill-board to advertise 
someone's pills. It will teach him that he may 
have, if he will, during each day of his life, that 
enjoyment in the beauty of the country to which 
business men of the city look forward as the crown- 
ing pleasure of their declining years, those years 
when rheumatism, deafness, and other infirmities 
frequently prevent one from receiving the full meas- 
ure of happiness that nature should give. 

It will teach the city dweller, who, to a certain 
extent, is fond of nature, that it is not the part of 
wisdom to create beautiful parks and build beauti- 
ful drives or parkways and then border them with 
bill-boards. It will teach him to respect the wooded 
bluffs and hillsides, the springs, streams, river banks 
and lake shores within the city boundaries, and 
preserve them with loving care. This apprecia- 
tion and care will also extend to the suburbs and 



24 LANDSCAPE-GARDENING 

will bring about a friendly relation between the 
people of the city and those of the country. 

The full development of that fine art, of which 
this book gives mere suggestions and glimpses, 
should result in preserving the country's natural 
beauty, and developing real outdoor pictures every- 
where until the United States becomes the most 
beautiful country in the world — more beauti- 
ful than any now imagined, and fully worthy of the 
affection and pride of all its people. 

What of the landscape-gardener .^ What should 
he have in the way of equipment, aims, and com- 
pensation ? 

As to equipment, "all is grist that comes to his 
mill"; but he should have above all a love and 
appreciation of natural beauty. It is of advan- 
tage to him if he has been born in the country, 
or at least has lived a portion of his life in inti- 
mate relation with woods, streams, and open fields. 
The history of the world, as revealed in astronomy, 
geology, physiography, botany, zoology, chem- 
istry, and the development of nations, is of value 
to him. The skill of the artist in various forms 
of expression is also of value — expression in words, 
in drawings, and in actual construction. 



THE AIMS OF LANDSCAPE-GARDENING 25 

His aims should include helping his fellow men 
and women to live happier, richer, fuller lives ; 
helping his country, his city, his neighborhood, 
his own home to grow more beautiful; helping 
everywhere in that material, artistic and ideal 
development that comes from doing things in a 
rational, thoughtful, common-sense way. 

His compensation in a material way should 
correspond with that received by men in other 
professions ; but in the satisfaction that comes from 
seeing and producing beauty, from breathing fresh 
air, getting outdoor exercise and all the delights 
that go with the country and the great outdoors 
and in the pleasure and satisfaction of doing helpful 
constructive work, no profession can vie with th^t 
of this new art. 



CHAPTER II 

The Saving of Natural Features and 
Resources 

There has been a tendency in the United States, 
and perhaps in most countries, to use up or destroy 
many things that would have been of value to fu- 
ture generations. We have needlessly wasted, de- 
stroyed and burned up large portions of the forests 
that would have been of priceless value even to the 
present generation. We have needlessly worn out 
and destroyed much of the natural richness of 
soil and have allowed large quantities of it to be 
washed away. We have destroyed most of the 
fur-bearing animals and the game that was once 
so abundant. We have destroyed the fish in rivers 
and lakes. All of these facts are quite generally 
recognized and regretted, but we have not yet re- 
formed. The destruction of forests goes on, and 
scarcely any provision is made for the future supply 

of lumber. The same is true regarding many 

26 



NATURAL FEATURES AND RESOURCES 27 

other natural products. Even coal and oil are not 
conserved as they should be. 

One feature of this country, however, which Is 
being destroyed and which is seldom mentioned, 
is its beauty. This loss is intimately connected 
with the other losses named. A needless destruc- 
tion of a forest often leaves a barren waste. Com- 
pare the primeval forest with the "pine barrens" 
that have taken its place. Compare a newly dis- 
covered creek or river with banks well covered 
by native growth with the same river a genera- 
tion later when its banks are denuded of growth 
and the river as if angry spends its energy in goug- 
ing out the land on either side. Compare the shores 
of a lake as first seen by white people with the 
same shores after the trees have been cut away 
and their places taken by ice-houses and other pro- 
truding or obtrusive buildings. Compare the tree- 
covered hills of some of the southern states with 
neighboring hills that have been denuded of for- 
est and have been eroded by storms until the vir- 
gin soil has disappeared and the ground is worth- 
less. 

The history of what is taking place in this coun- 
try is but a repetition of that in other lands. In 



28 LANDSCAPE-GARDENING 

France, for example, it has been necessary to spend 
millions to reforest mountains and foothills that 
had become worthless through erosion and to pre- 
vent the destruction of land below. Such de- 
struction would result from its becoming covered 
with the material washed from above. The re- 
foresting would bring back not only beauty but 
safety. Many countries once prosperous have 
become, through the destruction of their forests, 
like deserts and almost uninhabitable. The 
United States should avoid a catastrophe of this 
kind. The loss of beauty always accompanies 
the destruction of a forest. This is one of the 
many cases where beauty and utility are closely 
connected. The forest is valuable for the wood 
and timber It produces and for the protection it 
gives, but it is also valuable for its beauty ; and 
this chapter would call especial attention to this 
attribute which it possesses, and base on it a plea 
for the preservation of woods. This plea would 
be for the protection of the undergrowth as well 
as of the larger trees. 

In subsequent chapters attention will be called 
to the various elements of natural beauty. In 
this, chapter a general discussion of the subject 



NATURAL FEATURES AND RESOURCES 29 

of landscape-gardening in its relation to the entire 
country will be attempted. 

EACH FOR ALL 

A man with intelligence, good health, energy,* 
and an appreciation of nature can build an at- 
tractive home with pleasing surroundings, but un- 
less his neighbors are of like mind with himself, 
he will not get the enjoyment out of life that he 
should. We are dependent on each other. Each 
should do something for his neighbors, which means 
that each should do something for his country as a 
whole. He should constantly have that habit of 
thought that favors economy, thrift, neatness, 
prevention of waste and a creation of beauty, for 
all of these go together. 

We, the people who came from Europe, found 
this country with a beautiful forest sheltering wild 
life and protecting clear, clean streams and lakes. 
It was at first necessary to destroy parts of the 
forest to provide lumber, fuel, and land for culti- 
vation. The destruction was carried far beyond 
the needs, but some areas of original forest still 
remain even in the older states. These areas should 
be guarded and preserved zealously. Their utility 



30 LANDSCAPE-GARDENING 

has been discussed adequately by professors and 
others interested in forestry, but more thought and 
attention should be given to the part these areas of 
woodland play in making the country attractive 
and in providing healthful recreation. When this is 
fully understood and appreciated, nothing will seem 
more natural than to add to woods by planting trees 
and shrubs along the margins of existing growth, 
by preserving the young trees that start in the 
interior of the forest and thus insure its perpetua- 
tion, and by planting entirely new forests in those 
regions not adapted to cultivation and the ordi- 
nary forms of agriculture. 

The streams, once so clear and pure, have been 
polluted until they are often to be avoided. They 
have become muddy and loaded with sewage. 
Formerly, their banks were sought as places of 
residence, where now, in some cases, these banks 
would be the last places selected for homes. 

To make the streams available as attractive 
landscape features, — to say nothing of their effect 
on health, — sewage and other impurities should be 
kept out of them. Here the work of the physician, 
sanitary engineer, forester and landscape-gardener 
are closely related. 



NATURAL FEATURES AND RESOURCES 31 

The margins of lakes, once so beautifully wooded, 
in many cases have become bare and disfigured 
with huge ice-houses and other buildings. This 
is even true of the banks of many of our larger 
rivers like those of the historic Hudson. 

In the development of water power, large areas 
of forest have sometimes been flooded and the 
trees left standing to disfigure the landscape for 
years to come with their skeleton-like trunks and 
limbs. 

We have gone from bad to worse in the matter 
of bill-boards, frequently bordering with them the 
main lines of travel. 

We have disfigured the banks of small streams 
and rivers and charming ravines with rubbish of 
all kinds. We have gone along the country roads, 
especially near cities and villages, and when we 
have found the most charming spot, perhaps a 
leafy slope leading down to a pleasant valley, we 
have said "Aha ! here is a good place to dump 
our loads," and have proceeded at once to smother 
every vestige of vegetation with ashes and tin 
cans ; then fearing criticism, we have stuck up a 
sign "Dump no rubbish here" and have left the 
ashes and the sign in full view for years and years, 



32 LANDSCAPE-GARDENING 

until perhaps Nature through her kindness has 
covered them with grape or bittersweet vines. We 
have done innumerable things to give the country 
an ugly appearance and mar its beauty, blind alike 
to both, and then have gone complacently on de- 
claring that we are the salt of the earth and pity- 
ing the people who live in other countries. 

If a landscape-gardener were called on to prescribe 
for the country as a whole, just as he is sometimes 
called on to prescribe for the premises of individuals, 
he would probably give his first attention to the 
farms, because they form a larger part of the face 
of the land. They are not only the foundation of 
wealth, furnishing food and clothing, but they also 
lie at the foundation of our national character, be- 
cause many farmers' boys and girls graduate to 
the cities, and the farmers constitute a large per- 
centage of our population. The farms covering 
such a large proportion of the area of the United 
States form the greatest factor in the beauty of 
the country as a whole. In treating the farms, the 
group of farm buildings would first be embellished 
with trees, shrubs, and flowers, and then attention 
would be given to the wood-lots, springs, streams, 
and other features of beauty. Incidentally, all 



NATURAL FEATURES AND RESOURCES 33 

farm tools that have been left rusting scattered 
about the fields would be brought to a place of 
shelter. The farmer and the members of his family 
would be taught to see the beauty of trees and 
other vegetation, the beauty of rolling fields, sky- 
lines, clouds and sunshine, for, strangely enough, 
it is the farmers who live closest to nature who 
stand in greatest need of an awakening. Then, 
with one fell swoop, away would go all the bill- 
boards that disfigure so many of the landscapes 
and call loudly and impudently to each passer-by 
and then stare him out of countenance. 

Having landscaped the farms and destroyed the 
bill-boards, the next task would be to improve the 
appearance of the highways. The engineers would 
make the roadways, but the landscape-gardener 
would plant the margins, giving these margins as 
much thoughtful study as a good painter would 
bestow on his canvas. 

The school-yards would also receive attention, 
and when the rural districts as a whole were made 
beautiful, cities and villages would next require 
treatment. Each combination of city school and 
neighborhood center would be given ample space 
for buildings and grounds. The borders of the 



34 LANDSCAPE-GARDENING 

city streets would be planted attractively, and 
ample spaces In the most suitable situations would 
be devoted to parks. The beauties of nature — 
the streams, hillsides, lakes, and rivers — when 
they exist within or near a city, would be preserved 
as indicated in subsequent chapters. 

The individual homes of the cities and villages, 
whether large or small, would become fully as at- 
tractive as corresponding homes in other countries, 
where even the smallest yard is usually charming. 

The home of a laborer or mechanic may indeed 
be as artistic as that of his employer. There is no 
reason why a laborer should not have a hobby and 
become an authority, at least in his neighborhood, 
on some special subject. It might be some plant 
or class of plants which he would raise and value 
in his back yard, some plants grown for flowers, 
or certain vegetables or small-fruits. A hobby 
of this kind, having to do with life out-of-doors 
and the good appearance of one's home, is con- 
nected with landscape-gardening, but for fear that 
some will say that a laborer has no time for hobbies, 
the reader is asked to read the statement of an actual 
example, although, in this case, the hobby had no 
very close relation to landscape-gardening. 



NATURAL FEATURES AND RESOURCES 35 

Years ago a Mr. Currier, living in a city in Michi- 
gan, worked in a foundry for two dollars a day, a 
day's work at that time requiring ten hours. At 
night he would go home with his hands and face 
blackened from his toil. But notwithstanding his 
long day's work, he found time to go about the 
country just outside of his city and make col- 
lections of shells. He also found time to carry 
on a correspondence and exchange the shells for 
those collected by others in all parts of the world, 
so that in time his collection equaled that of any 
in the state with possibly one exception. If a 
man working for two dollars a day with long hours 
could accomplish so much, why could not the 
laborers of the present time with far greater pay 
and with short working days be able to make a 
special study of botany, geology, or any natural 
science, or a study of individual plants or classes 
of plants, or birds, and by so doing make life more 
interesting for himself and his family, for cer- 
tainly if he had such a hobby his wife and children 
would be interested in it with him. 

With the beauty of the country restored, and that 
of villages and cities properly developed, there 
should still remain a large area, varying probably 



36 LANDSCAPE-GARDENING 

from ten to thirty per cent of the whole, in forest 
and state, county, and township parks. 

Although the forest has several times been men- 
tioned in this chapter, it is a subject of so much 
importance that quotations will here be made from 
a little book entitled "The Forest Waters the 
Farm," published in 1886 by the Forest and Stream 
Publishing Company. This book should be read 
by everyone interested in the welfare of the coun- 
try. It is a translation from the French, and the 
quotations are : 

"One should cultivate his field according to its 
slope and its nature ; on high ground forest, here some 
grain, there turf-land for pasture, and above all, 
should never sow more surface than he can manure." 

"The woods keep the water, the water makes 
the meadows, the flock the manure, and the ma- 
nure the grain." 

"A country without wood is a house without a 
roof. No peace there ! Sun, wind, rain, and cold 
keep everyone in a turmoil." 

"The forest protects the sloping soil. Where 
the earth is in danger from the waters, plant a 
sapling." 

"We should never sacrifice the woods to the sheep 



NATURAL FEATURES AND RESOURCES 37 

unless we wish to be at our wits' end upon the 
plains." 

Bernard Palissy said in 1563, "When I consider 
the value of the least clump of trees, or even of 
thorns, I much marvel at the great ignorance of 
men, who, as it seemeth, do nowadays study to 
break down, fell and waste the fair forests which 
their forefathers did guard so choicely. I would 
think no evil of them for cutting down the woods, 
did they but replant ag^in some part of them, but 
they care naught for the time to come, neither 
reck they of the great damage they do to their 
children which shall come after them." 

The above quotations emphasize the utility of 
the forest, but its utility is so intimately connected 
with its effect on the appearance of the country that 
both of its attributes should be considered to- 
gether. It is impossible to give too great emphasis 
to the importance of either. 

The landscape-gardener would not diminish the 
development of water power. He would instead 
encourage such development, because it would save 
coal and decrease the amount of smoke. He 
would, however, have some regard for the preser- 
vation of beauty in developing this power. When 



38 LANDSCAPE-GARDENING 

necessary to flood land, he would have all the 
trees and stumps removed before covering it with 
water, so as to replace the river with a clear, 
attractive lake without stumps or other objects 
that would be ugly, and dangerous to boating. 
He would either save suitable vegetation along 
the margin of the lake to be formed, or plant so as 
to give this lake the appearance of a natural body 
of water. He would, of course, oppose the de- 
struction of waterfalls so unusual in their appear- 
ance as to have attained a world-wide reputation, 
but there is so much undeveloped water power 
that some of the scenic beauty of waterfalls can 
always be retained. 

The artist would not reduce the supply of timber. 
On the contrary, he would increase areas of forests, 
protect new growth, and prevent destruction by 
fire. When trees are cut for timber, he would have 
all branches removed and either utilized or burned 
where they will not endanger the trees that are 
left. He would cut trees low to prevent the unsight- 
liness of tall stumps. While the removal of 
branches and trimmings would help to preserve 
the good appearance of the forest, it would also 
be a precautionary measure of safety and would 



NATURAL FEATURES AND RESOURCES 39 

probably save timber worth many times the cost 
of its removal. 

He would not prevent the cutting of ice, but he 
would build the ice-houses in a location and manner 
that would prevent their being obtrusive in the 
landscape. This could usually be done without 
additional cost. 

He would not prevent advertising, but would 
recommend it in a less offensive manner. 

In short, the landscape-gardener would always 
encourage production. He would encourage those 
things that make for comfort, and while doing so 
he would always give a thought for the beauty of 
the country and encourage others to do so also, 
hoping that by so doing the country as a whole, 
the farming regions, the cities, the villages, the 
parks, and the forests would continually grow in 
beauty, and life become more and more worth while. 
He would encourage a fuller, richer, more enjoy- 
able and useful life for each individual, and nothing 
would contribute more toward this result than the 
existence of beauty fully appreciated. 



CHAPTER III 
Land 

Land is the basis of all landscape endeavor. It 
supports vegetation and holds in its hollow places 
bodies of water of all shapes and sizes (Fig. 7). 
From its declivities issue springs and through its 
valleys flow great rivers. 

Land consists of decomposed or disintegrated 
rock or decomposed organic matter, or both 
combined. Rocks may be decomposed in place 
and form soil on the surface, as in Kentucky and 
Tennessee, or they may be torn to pieces through 
the action of frost, ice, and water and moved long 
distances, often hundreds of miles, as in large por- 
tions of all the states north of the Ohio River. The 
rock that has been crushed and ground by force of 
glaciers may be separated by the action of water 
into gravel, clay, and sand and the finer particles of 
the latter may be blown into great hills by the wind. 

The forces of nature have by their action gouged out 

40 



LAND 



41 




42 LANDSCAPE-GARDENING 

great ravines and valleys, produced hills and plains, 
left high mountain peaks, made dry land and marshes, 
filled up lakes with plant growth and formed the 
earth's surface as it is seen today. 

No sculptor can rival nature in producing beauti- 
ful shapes, shapes that are marvelous in their grace- 
ful lines and surfaces, that show by their wrinkles 
the effect of struggle and resistance, that indicate 
the passing of long periods of time. Man in his 
efforts to grade land to fit the various needs can do 
no better than imitate nature. If he wishes to 
produce beautiful lawns, he may give the land the 
graceful contour of the prairies and place that por- 
tion of it which is richest in available plant-food near 
the surface where it will obtain moisture, air, and 
warmth and where it will be benefited by the action 
of frost. ' 

Since land varies so greatly in its origin, it must 
vary also in its composition ; but all land contains 
elements suited to some plants. Some lands are 
rich in lime, and on this account are unsuited to the 
growth of rhododendrons, mountain laurels, blue- 
berries and all the beautiful plants belonging, like 
these, to the heath family. These lands are, how- 
ever, well adapted to the growth of certain grasses 



LAND 43 

and clovers, and to the raising of many trees and 
shrubs that are exceedingly valuable in landscape 
work. Some land, on the other hand, is very de- 
ficient in lime but rich in nitrogen and in elements 
that give acidity. Such land will produce the beau- 
tiful plants found in bogs. It is suited to some fruits, 
to many of the heaths and to many mosses and 
plants of the lower orders. Even the poorest land 
will grow plants that make a beautiful ground cover- 
ing, and any situation may be made attractive by 
selecting the plants which fit it ; but if one wishes 
a special kind of ground cover, like Kentucky blue- 
grass, one must see that the soil is adapted to the 
plant desired. Its adaptation will depend not alone 
on the elementary substances it contains, but these 
must exist in proper combinations, and the mechan- 
ical condition of the soil must be such that air and 
moisture will reach the roots. In illustration of 
the different needs of special plants, a case in point 
may be cited. In a certain nursery, the rows of 
trees ran east and west. At the east end the soil 
v/as low, black, and of a peaty nature, while at the 
west end it was higher and decidedly sandy. A row 
of elms grew with great rapidity and vigor at the east 
end, but made scarcely any growth at the west end. 



44 LANDSCAPE-GARDENING 

Some Norway maples in a row next to these elms, 
on the other hand, were very thrifty in the sand, but 
stunted in the soil that would commonly be called 
rich. 

Another Important fact concerning land intended 
for certain plants is the existence of microscopic 
organisms, bacteria and protozoa, in the soil, which 
obtain nitrogen directly from the air and supply it 
to plants. It is not at all unlikely that these or- 
ganisms may affect the growth of certain plants in 
other ways, and that there is still much to be learned 
about these minute organisms and their relation to 
the growth of trees, bushes, and other vegetation. 

The effect of the mechanical condition of land is 
indicated by the rapidity in growth of trees and of 
other forms of vegetation in newly filled ground. 
Such ground may settle from ten to twenty per cent. 
This percentage in the newly filled ground must, 
therefore, be taken by air, and would indicate that 
an abundance of air in the soil is of great advantage 
to vegetation. The larger growth upon land that 
has been shaken by the explosion of dynamite cor- 
roborates this idea. When plants do not thrive, it 
is often assumed that the land in which they grow 
is too poor, and, therefore, rich black ground is added 



LAND 45 

or plant-food may be applied in the shape of ferti- 
lizers. Usually this is helpful, but, sometimes, it 
is like giving additional food to a sick person when 
he has already eaten too much. Sugar maples, 
red oaks, cherry trees, beeches, pines, hemlocks, 
dogwoods, wild grapes, and many other plants grow 
luxuriously upon the sands of western and northern 
Michigan, even on land so poor that it is thought 
unfit for agriculture. This simply illustrates how 
all land is adapted to the uses of the landscape- 
gardener. He may improve it for certain purposes 
and make it better adapted for the growth of par- 
ticular plants, but often his best course will be to 
select such plants as grow on land like that with 
which he has to deal. 

Land to be useful must be stationary; that is, 
it must not be blown away by wind or washed away 
by running water. To prevent light sandy land from 
being blown away, it must be thickly planted, usually 
with perennials having a woody growth, although 
many herbaceous plants are also useful in holding 
sand. Much can also be accomplished by planting 
to prevent land from being washed away. The 
damage to lands by erosion will be discussed further 
under the heading of "streams." 



CHAPTER IV 

Planting Materials 

There is a remarkable variety of planting ma- 
terial. Even to give a list of the various plants would 
take more room than this volume can spare. Such 
a list would include trees, shrubs, vines, herbaceous 
flowering plants, ferns, mosses, lichens, and fungi. 
With the gradual development of the art of landscape- 
gardening, the number of available plants has largely 
increased. This increase is due not alone to the dis- 
covery of species before unknown or to the develop- 
ment of new forms and colors through hybridization 
and other means, but to the fact that new beauty 
is discovered in well-known plants. Thus sumacs, 
elderberries, hazel bushes, goldenrods and asters, 
once considered so common as to command little 
more respect than weeds, are found to be really 
valuable in landscape-making. The introductions 
from little-explored countries, as from China, have 
also added to our stock of desirable plants, 

46 



PLANTING MATERIALS 47 



TREES 



Of all available planting material, none is more 
useful than trees. They have size, gracefulness, 
strength, dignity, age (Fig. 8). They carry the 
sky line to a great height. They provide shade. 
Their leaves are objects of perpetual interest from 
the variety they show in size, shape, margin, color 
and texture. Their spring coloring may be quite 
different from that of summer, and in autumn 
they may fairly riot in their wealth of reds, 
yellows, purples, and browns. When the leaves 
finally drop to the ground, their beauty is not 
all gone, for they still have pleasing shapes and 
colors and might well serve as motives in designing 
carpets and rugs. The leaves are useful as well as 
beautiful, for they breathe and prepare the sap of 
the trees for nourishment and then protect the roots, 
preserve moisture and finally furnish food. This 
is but one illustration of nature's combination of 
beauty with utility, a combination that will be found 
more and more prevalent with increased study and 
observation, and may even extend to the landscape- 
gardener's work of designing parks and home grounds. 

Some trees are evergreen, holding their green 



48 



LANDSCAPE-GARDENING 




Fig. 8. — Th^. l"'Kj\i\ii.\vuKK oi iiil Tkll^. 'IIk -.,.,;.^l,i.ig uf a hawthorn 
an interesting example of strength and beauty. 



PLANTING MATERIALS 49 

leaves or needles throughout one or more years, but 
even in these the spring coloring of the new growth 
may make a delightful contrast with the growth of 
the preceding year. Such trees give warmth to 
the winter landscape. The deciduous trees, how- 
ever, do not lose their charm with the falling of their 
leaves. Note the gracefulness of the branches of the 
elm, distinguishing this tree even at a great distance, 
the beautiful light bluish gray coloring of the bark 
of beeches and the great strength of their branches 
extending straight out from the trunk. Note also 
the rough bark of the bur oak extending even to the 
young branches, and the pleasing curved outline of 
the top of the tree, especially in the spring, this out- 
line being due to the light gray color of last year's 
bark and later to the light yellow of the expanding 
buds. The mere mention of the names of trees — 
the sugar maples, lindens, cherries, sycamores, Ken- 
tucky coffee trees, pepperidges, sassafras, birches, 
hickories, walnuts, honey locusts, thorn and crab- 
apples — will bring to mind some pleasing peculiar- 
ity of branching, texture or color of bark, or even 
the old leaves hanging to the branches of certain 
trees, like the straw-colored leaves on young beeches 
and the reddish-brown leaves on some of the oaks. 



50 LANDSCAPE-GARDENING 

No attempt will be made here to give a complete 
list of available trees or to describe them, as that 
work has been so well done in other books, but one 
likes to recall the names of some of them as he would 
the names and faces of friends. If a reader's favor- 
ite tree does not appear among those mentioned 
from time to time, it must not be construed as a 
reflection on his tree, as there undoubtedly is a place 
for every tree in some location, a place where it will 
serve better than any other. Such a place may 
even be found for a Lombardy poplar, a soft maple, 
or a box elder. 

SHRUBS 

Shrubs are like trees in many respects. They 
have similar leaves, blossoms, and fruits, and they 
are interesting from the color of their branches or 
their manner of growth, but they are comparatively 
small and usually have many stems instead of one. 
There are evergreen and deciduous shrubs, and they 
may be planted for their beauty alone or to serve 
as a hedge or screen. In landscape design, shrubs 
are useful in many ways. Often they are employed 
to grade down the higher outlines of trees to the sur- 
face of a lawn or other low area. They form an 



PLANTING MATERIALS 51 

attractive border for lawns and lakes. They help 
to "tie" buildings to their sites and give an eflPect 
of age. They may be used to separate bays so that 
one part of a lawn or lake will be hidden from an- 
other. They may screen fences, laundry yards, or 
other objects that should be hidden, but primarily 
they are planted for their own beauty or perfume. 
This statement will be sufficiently illustrated by 
the mere mention of certain common well-known 
shrubs, such as lilacs, syringas, honeysuckles, and 
roses. 

When shrubs are used to form a border, or when 
they stand out only as individuals, the lower limbs 
should be allowed to remain and spread out over or 
rest upon the adjacent ground. To trim off these 
branches and expose the upright stems greatly mars 
their beauty. It is not expected that grass will grow 
under well developed healthy shrubs. When shrubs 
or trees are first set out, the ground underneath should 
be cultivated or pulverized with a rake or hoe until 
August or September ; but after one or two seasons of 
such care, when these plants become well established, 
no further attention should be needed, especially 
if the leaves which drop in the fall can be allowed 
to remain on the ground as a permanent mulch. The 



52 



LANDSCAPE-GARDENING 







PLANTING MATERIALS 53 

lower spreading branches of shrubs help to hold the 
mulch of leaves and make a graceful border for the 
lawn. Any one who appreciates the beauty of this 
border will not allow these lower branches to be 
cut, and he will consider the digging of a ditch about 
a group of shrubs an unpardonable sin. 

The value of shrubs in a landscape will be appre- 
ciated if one thinks of the edge of woods (Fig. 9) 
along an open field where the trunks of the trees 
are for the most part hidden with a natural growth 
of viburnums, dogwoods, hazels and elderberries, 
with groups of wild roses tucked in here and 
there, or when one looks at two buildings (Figs. 10 
and 11) rising from open areas, one perfectly bare 
and the other partially hidden with a growth of 
shrubs, vines and flowers. 

VINES 

Vines are climbing plants, some woody, some 
herbaceous. They climb by tendrils like the grape, 
by rootlets like the poison ivy, or by twining like 
the moonseed. The ends of rootlets are often spread 
out into sucker-like disks. Vines are beautiful in 
foliage, — note any well-known species ; in flowers, 
as climbing roses, morning-glories and honeysuckles ; 




l''iG. 10. — Naked and Defenseless. Compare with Fig. ii, siiowing a 
setting of shrubs. 







Fig. II. — Clothed and Protected. Partially hidden with a growth of 
shrubs, vines and flowers. 



54 



PLANTING MATERIALS 55 

and in fruit, as note especially bittersweet. Some 
are very fragrant when in bloom, for example wild 
grape and Hall's honeysuckle. Many vines, like 
the wild grape, grow with great rapidity and often 
smother the host that gives them support. It is 
dangerous, therefore, to plant them about shrubs, 
and caution should be exercised when they are near 
trees, for a vigorous grapevine will soon reach the 
top of the tallest growth in a forest. For covering 
trellises, lattice-work and walls, however, vines are 
exceedingly useful, and they often form most attrac- 
tive ground covers. 

HERBACEOUS FLOWERING PLANTS 

Many books have been written about flowers and 
flower-gardens, but no description can convey an 
adequate idea of the beauty and perfume of a peony, 
iris, or lily, to say nothing of the rose. To obtain 
a knowledge of flowers, one must see them at close 
hand and know them by smell as well as by sight. 
They belong in every near-by landscape, where they 
may enhance the general effect, and also in the gar- 
den for cut-flowers, and in special gardens for the 
display of one or more kinds of bloom. There 
are hardy flowers, from the snowdrops of March 



56 LANDSCAPE-GARDENING 

to the asters and gentians of October or Novem- 
ber. There are flowers of all colors, and one can 
devote a lifetime to collecting flowers of one type, 
as the peonies or the hardy chrysanthemums, 
or to arranging a succession of harmonious com- 
binations. 

One can have wall-gardens, water-gardens, wild- 
gardens, bog-gardens, and gardens of a particular 
season or of specially selected colors. These are 
intensely interesting. One can imagine how much 
interest might be taken in a garden devoted to hya- 
cinths, to the various kinds of narcissus, to orchids, 
to peonies, to lupines, to columbines, to irises, to 
gentians, or to dahlias. These, however, are special 
interests and can hardly be entered into in detail 
by one devoting his life to the general practice of 
landscape-gardening. To do so would be like an 
architect's decorating the rooms of his buildings and 
painting the pictures for the walls. 

FERNS 

Ferns can be selected for nearly all positions, dry, 
moist, sunny, or shady. They are beautiful and in- 
teresting plants and should find a place in nearly 
every scheme for the development of ground along 



PLANTING MATERIALS 57 

artistic lines. Fortunately, many species are per- 
fectly hardy even in northern climates. 

MOSSES AND LICHENS 

Mosses and lichens, using these terms with their 
popular significance, are humble specimens of the 
vegetable kingdom not usually considered as material 
for planting. Mosses have, however, been trans- 
planted successfully to many gardens. They are 
beautiful and serve a useful purpose as a carpet or 
as a setting for small fliowering plants. A professor 
from a New England university said a moss garden 
in Scotland was the most charming thing he saw 
during his trip to Europe. Lichens may sometimes 
be transplanted successfully with the bowlders on 
which they grow. Since mosses and lichens are 
sometimes the most attractive plants seen in woods, 
it ought to be possible to utilize them to advantage 
in parks and home grounds. 



CHAPTER V 

Arrangement of Planting 

The arrangement of trees, shrubs, and flowers is 
often of more importance than the plant selected, 
since it may make little difference whether a linden, 
a maple, or a tulip tree is chosen to carry the sky- 
line to the desired height, while the sky-line itself 
may be of the greatest value. Sometimes a mass 
of shrubs is needed in a certain place, a mass which 
might be made satisfactorily of viburnums, dogwoods 
or hazels, or a combination of these and similar 
shrubs. The arrangement of plants will be discussed 
in some detail under the headings of home grounds, 
thoroughfares, parks, arboretums, cemeteries, and 
school grounds, but certain general rules or principles 
may advantageously be mentioned here. 

Hills may be emphasized or accented by planting 
tall-growing trees at the top, medium-sized trees 
on the sides, and low ground-covering material at 
the bottom. This is so evident that it requires no 

s8 



ARRANGEMENT OF PLANTING 59 

discussion, but, like many other well-known rules, is 
often neglected, so that a ravine or valley becomes 
filled with trees which are nearly level on top and 
thus loses its value in a landscape. 

In like manner, the broader-growing trees and 
shrubs should be planted at the projections forming 
the boundaries of bays of foliage, and relatively 
narrow specimens In the deeper portions so that the 
bays will not be filled up with years of growth and 
thus lose their significance. 

Excepting in the limited narrow strips for plant- 
ing along the sides of roads and walks, the borders 
of gardens, and other Inclosures and orchards need- 
ing continued cultivation, trees and shrubs should 
not be planted In rows. This rule may call for some 
discussion. It will be acknowledged readily that 
woods have a great charm for nearly every one who 
has the privilege of visiting them. What gives this 
charm ^ The wonderful variety for one thing, but 
that Is not all ; the beauty of the individual leaves 
and flowers, but this does not fully account for it. 

The great size of the trees, the manner of branch- 
ing, the bark, and the varying distances that one can 
see Into the depths of the woods contribute to their 
charm, and yet something more is needed in expla- 



6o LANDSCAPE-GARDENING 

nation. This is the fact that no three or more plants 
are in line. Each individual tree or shrub seems 
to have selected its neighbors. Two may apparently 
be talking together or enjoying each other's com- 
panionship in one place, three in another, and then 
there may be a whole town meeting of trees or bushes. 
Perhaps a thousand pawpaws may be gathered to- 
gether in one locality, a group of elderberries in an- 
other, a grove of beeches in another, and choke- 
cherries and sheep-berries in still another. One 
old patriarch of a tree appears to have gathered his 
children about him. This lack of regularity pro- 
duces an air of freedom that is delightful. The truth 
of the above statement may be shown by an example. 
Some Americans were approaching a forest on one 
of the great estates of England. They remarked 
with enthusiasm before reaching it, "That looks 
like real American woods." On passing through 
the outer fringe of foliage, however, and finding that 
the forest trees stood in rows like an apple orchard, 
they were disappointed. To be sure, the fact that 
forest trees, mostly beeches, had been planted and 
had grown to be three or four feet in diameter was 
very interesting, but the anticipated charm of the 
woods as such was gone. It is certainly legitimate 



ARRANGEMENT OF PLANTING 6i 

for a landscape-gardener to attempt to produce this 
charm. He cannot succeed as well as nature, but 
he can sometimes come very near to doing so, and 
may really succeed in certain details. The artist's 
saying, "It is the perfection of art to conceal art," 
is applicable to landscape-gardening and is certainly 
true. When rows and circles are discovered, art 
Is not concealed. 

What has been said in regard to rows for trees 
and shrubs is equally applicable to herbaceous 
plants. One should study a hillside or a rocky 
ledge covered with columbines, a marsh dotted 
with lady-slippers, a sandy ridge covered with 
lupines and puccoons, the carpet of anemones 
under a thorn-apple ; there are no rows In any of 
these examples, yet where is the artificial flower-bed 
that can compare with them in beauty of arrange- 
ment ? 

Although this rule not to plant in rows seems so 
simple, it Is one of the most difficult to carry out. If 
told to the man setting out trees or other plants, 
nine times out of ten he will fail to observe It. He 
will try, but his trees will be In zigzags (Fig. 12). 
The lines are there just the same, only one line 
has been moved half a space forward. It seems 



62 



LANDSCAPE-GARDENING 



absolutely Impossible for some planters to escape 
straight lines. To test for rows, one should look 
at a plantation from every direction. Rows make 
a composition look stiff and artificial. They are 















• 

• 


1 
^ 


"-/■»..» «. , 


"^ 



Fig. 12. — The Planting of Borders. Upper sketch shows irregular 
arrangement of trees and shrubs in border. Lower sketch explains an 
attempt at irregular planting which results in two rows. Page 6i. 

at times admirable, as in a body of soldiers, but 
they do not belong, or at least they should not 
take a dominant part, in the productions of those 
fine arts which have for their chief charm grace- 
fulness and freedom. Arrangement does not depend 



ARRANGEMENT OF PLANTING 



63 



altogether on things that are planted. Often it de- 
pends on things taken out. 

"Plant thick and thin quick" is a good rule, since 
it gives a good appearance from the beginning and 
an opportunity for 
preserving the 
strongest individ- 
ual plants. The 
thinning, however, 
may not be con- 
fined to things 
that have been 
set out. Where 
native woods exist, 
the landscape-gar- 
dener will surely ^"^' ^^'' — ^^^ Irregularity of Nature. 

Usually dead trees should be removed, but 
take advantage of occasionally one is so picturesque that it 

should be retained. An old red cedar. 

them in making 

his plans, and he will do the same with any existing 
trees or other growth standing in the open or ex- 
tending along fences or old buildings (Fig. 13). 

While nature is the best teacher and does some 
things incomparably well, she does not always pro- 
duce the most artistic eflfect, at least from man's 
point of view. She will close the edge of a wood so 











B^Q^rX^ 


'■■^^ 




■^^^^ 


s 


•K, 






m 








" ■ 



64 LANDSCAPE-GARDENING 

tight with foliage that the eye cannot penetrate be- 
yond the outer covering. She will soon grow a 
thicket that will hide the most magnificent view. 
She will grow a vine that will smother the most 
rare and valuable tree. In such cases, the judicious 
use of the ax will greatly help nature's own arrange- 
ment. Usually the poorer of two or more trees can 
be selected for cutting, but sometimes one's con- 
science will require the removal of a really fine tree. 
Usually a landscape-gardener is making pictures, 
not a collection of fine specimens, or a museum, but 
this will not preclude using the very best of trees 
when they are in the right places. Indeed a design 
may often be changed from that originally in mind 
to insure that an existing tree, bush, or group shall 
be in the proper place. 

A view may be made to appear long by placing 
at its farther end plants having light-colored foliage, 
like that of the royal willow or the so-called Russian 
olive, and placing near at hand plants with darker 
leaves. This is only using the same device employed 
by painters, engravers, and by nature herself. Look 
at any photograph of scenery and note that the 
distant parts are indicated by lighter tones. This 
lighter tone of far-away objects is due largely to 



ARRANGEMENT OF PLANTING 65 

particles in the air. These particles reflect light, and 
the farther away an object is, the more particles 
intervene so that more light comes from the air and 
less from the given object. When air is very clear, 
as in certain mountainous regions, far-away things 
seem near at hand. On the other hand, fog makes 
objects look farther away. Fog often gives delight- 
ful effects by separating groups at various distances 
from the observer. It places light curtains behind 
near-by trees, thus bringing out their details of 
branch and leaf, and it hides the distance, producing 
a feeling of mystery like woods. This fact might 
be borne in mind in working out a plan ; for the 
planting should be so designed as to be attractive in 
all kinds of weather. The arrangement of the plant- 
ing and the selection of the material to be used should 
also be with reference to the seasons of the year and 
the hours of the day. The most telling effects may 
be desired in spring, summer, autumn, or even in 
winter. 

Planting should be arranged with plenty of open 
space so that the plants may be seen and so 
they may be developed naturally and healthfully. 
The sky-line and the various outlines below it should 
be studied carefully and plants which harmonize 



66 LANDSCAPE-GARDENING 

should be grouped near each other. Usually a group 
should be made up of plants which come into leaf at 
the same time in the spring, as a shrub when growth 
starts late may look dead in comparison with early 
shrubs and one might feel tempted to cut it out. 

One who aspires to arrange the planting for a 
tract of land wisely should study the plan carefully 
on the ground itself. He may find certain unattrac- 
tive objects to be planted out, like barns, ugly build- 
ings, railway yards, and scars caused by cuts in 
hillsides or by white retaining walls. On the other 
hand, he may observe that by cutting away some 
growth, a lovely valley may be opened to view, or 
a bit of the sea, a river, a distant village, or other 
objects of real interest will suddenly appear. When 
this is the case, the owner of a small tract may really 
own all the land he can see in the sense that the 
pleasure of looking at it cannot be taken away from 
him. 

To arrange plants properly one must know them, 
know how they look, how large they will grow, when 
they leaf out in the spring and drop their leaves 
in the fall, the colors they put on at various times, 
the date of blossoming and fruiting, and all. the facts 
that have a bearing on their appearance. He must 



ARRANGEMENT OF PLANTING dy 

know the soil each species likes to grow in and the 
slope most favorable to its growth. Arrangement 
is the very essence of landscape-gardening and may 
fill a lifetime with observation and study and also 
with pleasure. 



CHAPTER VI 
How TO Plant 

One may plant seeds, seedlings or cuttings, nursery 
stock of the usual sizes, or large trees with balls of 
earth about their roots weighing in some cases 
many tons. Doubtless the reader knows how to 
plant seeds : drop a seed, cover it with a little earth, 
sometimes very little, step on it and the planting is 
done. Few, however, would think of planting seeds 
to secure a grove of trees, not realizing how fast 
trees really grow ; and yet there are oaks in the 
Arnold Arboretum at Boston so large that a man 
six feet tall can barely reach around the trunk of 
one of them at the height of his arms and these oaks 
were raised from acorns planted by Jackson Daw- 
son within the memory of persons who are now of 
middle age. But to attempt to raise a forest, a 
grove, or even a group of trees near one's house from 
seeds would be a wasteful process from man's view- 
point (although not from that of squirrels, chip- 

68 



HOW TO PLANT 69 

munks, mice, and blue-jays that would eat the seeds) 
because of the uncertainty of the result. 

Seedling trees are raised in a nursery where they 
can be protected and cultivated. It is often wise to 
plant these seedlings in permanent plantings, although 
it might be difficult to convince the man who wished 
to "see a tree during his lifetime" of the truth of 
this statement. A few facts in this, connection may 
be of value. Small evergreens planted after a man 
was fifty years old have grown to be seventy feet 
high while he could still see them, that is during 
a period of about thirty years. Willows, cotton- 
woods, and soft maples have grown to three feet in 
diameter in periods ranging from thirty to forty 
years. Elms under favorable conditions will grow 
from one-half to three-fourths of an inch in diameter 
and several feet in height each year. Even oaks 
grow with considerable rapidity. Seedlings cost 
very little, often less than one cent apiece, and they 
will grow into trees worth dollars in a very few years. 

Seedlings can be planted by sticking a spade 
into the ground to make an opening, placing the 
root in this opening, and then sticking the spade 
in the ground again and pressing the earth against 
the roots of the young plant. It may be well to 



JO LANDSCAPE-GARDENING 

carry the young seedlings with the roots immersed 
in a pail of water, and it is advantageous to have two 
persons work together in planting, one to use the 
spade and the other to carry the plants and place 
them in the earth. Sometimes it is best to cut the 
stems of the seedlings just above the second or third 
bud from the ground. The advisability of doing 
this, however, would depend on the kind of tree. 

Young trees as well as old deserve admiration, 
and there is always pleasure in watching a grove 
develop. 

PLANTING MEDIUM-SIZED TREES 

Trees of nursery size, ranging from one-half inch 
to three or four inches in diameter, will of course 
usually be planted. Such trees can be dug with a 
good supply of roots and should grow, directly from 
the time they are planted, into sturdy specimens. 

In planting a tree, a hole should be made somewhat 
wider than the spread of its roots and a little deeper 
than these roots extended below the surface of the 
ground in the nursery. Some of the soil will then 
be put back into the hole in a finely pulverized con- 
dition, and the roots placed upon this refilled earth 
at a height with regard to the ground's surface a 



HOW TO PLANT 71 

little above that which it had before being moved. 
The roots will be spread out in a natural position 
and finely pulverized earth sprinkled in among 
them, the tree being given a gentle shaking as the 
earth is filled back, so that all the intervals between 
the roots will be well filled. When the filling is 
complete, the earth should be packed by treading 
around the newly planted tree. One reason for 
placing the tree a little above its nursery height is 
that the ground in its new position will settle, caus- 
ing the tree also to settle, and when the tree is firmly 
established and the ground about it compacted by 
the settlement due to rains, frosts, and the passing 
of the seasons, it should stand in the position it would 
have occupied if grown from seed on the spot. No 
mistake is more frequently made than that of plant- 
ing trees too deep. Sometimes trees that have 
died are found to be planted in a hole like a post with 
the crown of the roots a foot or more below the sur- 
face. Such trees are really smothered and have 
little chance for life. 

Just before planting, the roots and branches of a 
deciduous tree should be trimmed ; the roots being 
cut back to where they are fresh and full of life and 
the branches trimmed to reduce the number of buds 



72 LANDSCAPE-GARDENING 

in proportion to the loss suffered by the roots. Large 
branches ought not to be cut. Usually it is best to 
confine the trimming to a part of the last year's 
growth, so that the buds which start will be less than 
a year old. It is sometimes best to lean a tree slightly 
in the direction from which the prevailing winds 
come. The soil in which a tree is planted should be 
clean and the air which it contains should be sweet 
and pure. The earth should, of course, contain 
sufficient plant-food for the tree, but fresh manure, 
street sweepings, and decaying matter of any kind 
should be kept from contact with the roots. Leaky 
gas mains are fatal to any plant. 

PLANTING LARGE TREES 

Large trees should be planted only when there is 
some decided advantage in the immediate effect 
which they will produce. There are many places, 
however, where this advantage will exist. A new 
building may be given an appearance of dignity and 
age by the planting of a large tree, a tree one or 
two feet in diameter or sometimes even larger. The 
effect of a view in a park or a vista extending away 
from a house may justify the use of some large trees, 
which frame the picture that is to be developed. The 



HOW TO PLANT 73 

planting of large trees or large bushes and vines is 
almost a business by itself. Various wagons have 
been devised for this work. 

The important points to observe in large-tree 
planting are : First, to obtain the largest possible 
supply of roots. 

Second, if the tree is trimmed at all only small 
branches should be cut, those not larger than the 
size of a pencil, usually a part only of the past year's 
growth. If larger branches are cut, they should be 
those in the interior of the tree which are unimpor- 
tant and will not affect the general outline. When 
two branches cross or rub against each other, one 
of them should be removed. Any large branch 
which is removed should be cut close to the trunk 
or larger branch from which it springs. 

Third, one should see that the tree is planted high, 
much higher with reference to the surface than it 
stood before being moved. This is important not 
only for its healthy growth but also for its appear- 
ance. If one looks at the trees which have grown 
naturally in woods or in open fields, it will be seen 
how the earth rises gently toward the trunk. This 
comes about with the enlargement of the roots, which 
raise the earth. A tree which meets the earth with 



74 LANDSCAPE-GARDENING 

spreading buttresses is far better in appearance 
than one which stands like a post. When the drain- 
age is away from the trunk, the water from rains 
and snow settles in the ground where the fine roots 
are feeding and where the moisture will do the most 
good. 

Fourth, to plant a tree is expensive. To pre- 
vent the waste of this expense, the tree must live 
and to insure its life it should receive care. The 
transplanting of a large tree is like a major operation 
at a hospital, where the patient must remain under 
observation and skillful treatment for some time 
after he is operated on. Necessarily, in transplant- 
ing big trees, large portions of the roots will be cut 
off, the fine feeding roots that are far from the trunks 
— the roots which absorb moisture and furnish the 
tree its life-giving sap. This supply of moisture of 
which the tree has been deprived must be replaced 
by artificial watering with a copious supply of water 
so that it will penetrate the ground to the lowest 
roots, not the watering which comes from a sprinkler, 
which only penetrates a fraction of an inch. To 
make sure that the water thus supplied reaches its 
proper destination, pockets or basins should be made 
in the surface of the ground above the roots to be 



HOW TO PLANT 75 

fed. When a newly planted tree stands on level 
ground, such a basin will be circular in form, the 
deepest part of the basin being the circumference 
of a circle just over the outer ends of the roots, the 
ground about the tree forming a low, flat cone 
within this circle. When the tree stands on a 
hillside, the pockets must be so arranged as to 
retain some water for the roots on the upper side of 
the trunk. 

Fifth, a large tree should be anchored against 
strong winds. Usually the ball of earth about the 
roots should be heavy enough to prevent the tree's 
overthrow, but as a precaution against unusual winds 
or tornadoes strong wires or cables should hold the 
tree in place by being attached to iron bolts or eyes 
screwed into the trunk high above the ground and 
anchored to heavy posts or other stable objects. 
Sometimes anchors like those employed by telegraph 
or telephone companies may be used. In this con- 
nection, planters should be cautioned against putting 
wires around the trunks of trees. Even when the 
bark is protected by strips of wood or rubber hose, 
damage is liable to result to the tree from an attempt 
to hold it in this manner (Fig. 14). 

Sixth, when the newly planted tree is well es- 



76 



LANDSCAPE-GARDENING 



tablished, the ridges that have formed the basins 
for irrigation should be removed and also the wires 
or cables that have been holding the tree in place. 

It is not necessary always 
to remove the bolts, as these 
will do no harm in the in- 
terior of the trunk. The 
growth of the tree will soon 
reach beyond the bolts. The 
surface of the ground about 
the tree where the ridges 
have been removed should 
be brought to a natural 
grade and then clothed with 
grass or other suitable ground- 
FiG. 14. -Guying Trees, covering. The change to a 

"A" shows best method. 1 r i_ J 

«B" and "C" are objection- natural surfacc may be made 
^^'^" gradually so that the tree 

may by slow degrees become accustomed to its 

new conditions. 




PLANTING BUSHES AND HERBACEOUS SUBJECTS 

The remarks with regard to the moving of large 
trees are applicable also to the moving of large bushes 
and vines. The transplanting of all plants of woody 



HOW TO PLANT yy 

growth should be during the dormant period, that 
is, when the leaves have fallen, in temperate climates 
usually from the beginning or middle of October until 
the following April or May. The expense of moving 
plants with frozen balls is, of course, much greater 
than when the ground is unfrozen, but occasionally 
this extra expense is justified. 

Evergreens which grow in sand are more likely to 
succeed if transplanted with a frozen ball, but de- 
ciduous trees even of the largest size are successfully 
transplanted in fall or spring. The relative advan- 
tages of fall and spring planting vary in different 
localities. In some places, fall planting seems to 
succeed better than spring, even with such tender 
plants as Hall's honeysuckle ; while in severe climates 
certain roses and other shrubs not altogether hardy 
should only be planted out in spring. Herbaceous 
plants should also be transplanted during their dor- 
mant period, but with them this period varies from 
June through July and August and around the year 
until March, April, or even May. The early spring 
flowers which utilize the sunshine of March, April 
and May before this sunshine is cut off by the leaves 
of trees and shrubs, often ripen by June or July and 
remain dormant until the following spring. These 



78 LANDSCAPE-GARDENING 

include blood-roots, trilliums, adder' s-tongue and 
others which can be planted from July until the 
end of the season. Other plants which occupy open 
spaces and bloom later ripen and become dormant 
at various dates until the ground freezes. 

CARE OF PLANT MATERIALS 

Valuable directions for the preparation and treat- 
ment of the soil and the care which different plants 
require are usually given in nursery and seed cata- 
logues, but some additional suggestions may be 
given here. 

When one goes to unpastured woods or looks at 
the native growth along roadsides or old rail fences 
or stone walls, he sees plants that have no care and 
are generally healthy and vigorous. This condition 
should prevail and often does exist in tree and shrub- 
bery borders. Groups of lilacs may easily be found 
which have received no attention for thirty or forty 
years, and they are vigorous and each year have good- 
sized leaves and an abundance of flowers (Fig. 15). 
This is true also of many honeysuckles, syringas, 
viburnums, and other shrubs, and is the ideal con- 
dition ; but when trees and shrubs are first planted 
they need care until they become well established. 



HOW TO PLANT 



79 




80 LANDSCAPE-GARDENING 

The best care which can be given is to keep the soil 
well cultivated like that of a newly planted corn- 
field, or a well tilled orchard. With such care, young 
nursery stock will rarely require watering. If for 
any reason this cultivation cannot be given, a thor- 
ough mulching would come next in value. Culti- 
vating and mulching are primarily for the purpose 
of keeping the soil beneath moist, and incidentally to 
kill the weeds which would rob the newly planted 
shrubs of food and water. 

After trees and shrubs are well established, trim- 
ming is likely to disfigure them. The lower branches 
of shrubs are really the most important. They 
spread out over the ground, upon which they often 
rest. They help to hold the mulching of leaves 
which should cover the ground underneath them. 
To trim the outer branches, allowing only the central 
stems to remain, gives a shrub an unattractive ap- 
pearance, making it look "stemmy." It is also bad 
for the health of the shrub, since It allows the wind 
to blow away the mulching and dry out the ground. 
Trees growing in the open seldom need any trimming 
to improve their outlines or appearance. Dead 
branches should be removed and trees should be 
trimmed for convenience. If they border a drive. 



HOW TO PLANT 8i 

the lower branches must not interfere with auto- 
mobiles or other vehicles. If their branches spread 
over a walk, they should be out of the way of um- 
brellas, but a tree out upon a lawn, placed there 
primarily as a thing of beauty, should be allowed to 
grow in its own way, with its lower branches touching 
the ground if it is its nature to do so. 

A very common mistake is to "top" a tree. To 
cut off all of the upper part of the tree not only dis- 
figures it but often leads to its death. Thousands 
of maples, cottonwoods and other trees have been 
killed by this treatment because decay has set in 
where the trunks have been cut and gradually ex- 
tended to the bottom of the tree. The trunk has 
thus been weakened, so that it has been easily broken 
and destroyed by storms. 

Another exasperating treatment when it is neces- 
sary to remove trees is to girdle them and allow them 
to stand dead and naked for an indefinite period. 
Such trees excite pity for the tree and indignation 
for the girdler. 

With thrifty plants and good preparation of the 
soil, the cultivation which has been recommended 
for new plantations will be unnecessary after one 
or two years. In orchards in which large fruit is 



82 LANDSCAPE-GARDENING 

desired and In which a tree is forced to do its utmost, 
thorough cultivation may be required year after year, 
but with other trees and shrubs which are for orna- 
ment continual cultivation and spading of the ground 
defeats the object in planting them. Spading and 
forking up the ground breaks many of the roots, 
requires much labor, and the result is not beautiful. 
A mulching of leaves is not offensive even in winter 
when stems are bare, and the decay of this mulch 
will usually produce sufficient plant-food. Even 
when additional food is required, there are ways of 
administering it without disfiguring the surface of 
the land. 

The roots of nearly all woody plants extend very 
deep, frequently to permanent moisture. When 
one looks at a hillside w^hich is brown from dry wea- 
ther, the trees, bushes and vines are usually green 
and fresh looking. Occasionally, however, the trees 
even in a natural forest suffer from drought. When 
trees in home grounds, parks or other planted areas 
suffer from an unusual or protracted drought, water- 
ing may be necessary. In such cases, sprinkling 
will not answer the purpose. A thorough soaking 
of the ground down to the lowest roots is needed. 
After such a watering, a week or ten days should 



HOW TO PLANT 83 

elapse before another is given. Large trees and 
bushes that are newly planted must have thor- 
ough watering if they are to flourish. Such water- 
ing, however, should not extend late in the season. 
Woody plants should not be made to grow in tem- 
perate climates after the first of September. The 
wood must be given a chance to ripen in order to 
go through the winter without harm. Peach orchards 
have sometimes been killed by cultivation which 
produced a late growth. 



CHAPTER VII 
Water 

The land thus far considered in connection with 
planting and the development of landscape has 
been the ordinary well-drained land that is suscep- 
tible of cultivation. When there is an excess of 
water, various conditions may develop which will 
require special treatment. 

MARSHES 

When land is level or spongy, water may be re- 
tained, producing a swampy condition. Swamps 
are not unfrequently found at watersheds, so that 
water may flow from a swamp in two or more direc- 
tions. Swamps in such locations are very useful in 
retaining water for supplying springs issuing from 
hillsides below and for keeping up a continuous 
flow in streams. Swamps are not only useful in 
this way, but they are often beautiful features in a 
landscape. They insure open space, across which 

84 



WATER 85 

one often sees a beautiful fringe of foliage. In the 
swamp itself many beautiful plants are likely to 
find a congenial home, among these being iris, cat- 
tails, many kinds of sedges, arrowleaf, cardinal 
flowers, marsh marigolds, pitcher-plants, sundews, 
swamp honeysuckle, ferns, astilbes, clethra,. Joe- 
Pye weed and other eupatoriums, various grasses, 
and sometimes such showy plants as lady's-slippers 
and other orchids. 

Marshes are often especially beautiful in autumn 
when their abundant vegetation and the leaves of 
surrounding trees and bushes are rich in color. 
There Is hardly any better place than the edge of 
a marsh for the study of marginal planting. Here 
one sees Interesting bays, delightful grading of ver- 
dure from the sedges to swamp roses, winterberries, 
poison sumacs, larches, red maples and giant oaks. 
A marsh is indeed often a second stage of a lake and 
sometimes conceals a lake underneath, when it is 
known as a quaking bog. To a landscape-gardener, 
the value of marshes, as of all other natural landscape 
features, lies in the hints and the suggestions they 
give for the treatment of similar situations. 

If there Is a piece of wet land on the area to be 
studied and planned, there are three obvious treat- 



86 LANDSCAPE-GARDENING 

ments to be considered. The wet land can be ex- 
cavated, thus forming a lake, or it can be filled up, 
forming ordinary ground, or it can be retained as 
a marsh and developed by introducing the beauti- 
ful plants found growing in such situations. It 
would naturally be suitable for a bog-garden which 
can be made a beautiful part of a landscape. 

SPRINGS 

The waters from rains and melting snow which 
enter the ground at relatively high levels may 
descend until some impervious stratum is reached, 
and then flow out as springs where the impervious 
stratum meets a ravine, a valley, or the bank of a 
stream. Springs vary in size from a tiny trickling 
rlU that will merely moisten the earth to a large 
river which issues from its source in such volume 
as to be navigable from its beginning ; but whatever 
Its size, a spring may be an interesting feature in a 
landscape. The smallest one may moisten the earth 
enough for marsh marigolds, forget-me-nots and iris, 
those somewhat larger may spread out Into clear 
pools, reflecting jewel-weeds and gentians, or may 
tumble over bowlders and make cheerful sounds. A 
spring is an acquisition to be prized. Its treatment 



WATER 87 

calls for some skill. It should either appear as na- 
ture's own production, as though man had done 
nothing to it, or, if some visible work of man's is 
necessary, this should seem to serve the spring and 
be subordinate to it. Springs that have sufficient 
fall and volume may be valuable as sources of water 
supply, either through gravity when at a sufficiently 
high elevation, or when lower by means of hydraulic 
rams or other pumping devices. 

Some shade goes well with a spring, the two to- 
gether producing a grateful effect of coolness on a 
hot summer day. Overhanging lindens, birches, hem- 
locks, alders, red maples and red-branched dogwoods 
seem appropriate for producing shade, but any tree 
or shrub leaning out from a bank immediately above 
a spring makes an eifect which an artist would like 
to sketch. A spring may give individuality to a 
home, a park, a city square, a country road or a city 
street. 

When the water supply is artificial and the water 
is forced from manifestly artificial forms, the spring 
becomes a fountain. Fountains of many different 
forms have been used from time immemorial and 
often make delightful features of buildings and ter- 
races. The beauty of a spring, however, would seem 



88 LANDSCAPE-GARDENING 

to justify its introduction into scenery even when 
the water must be supplied by some prosaic pump. 
The pump, however, should be located in the city 
waterworks or some distant building or hidden 
underground, and the water come from an unseen 
source and be given the appearance of a natural 
flow. 

STREAMS 

The water from springs unites with surface water 
from rains and snow to form at first small streams, 
which in turn unite to form larger ones, and these 
again unite to form rivers. Small streams, known 
as rivulets, brooks, creeks, and runs, are very inter- 
esting features when they exist as nature made them. 
They are not only interesting in a landscape, but 
they frequently have waterfalls and rapids that make 
sounds pleasing to the ear. When first discovered, 
they are supplied with clear water as a rule and are 
bordered with vegetation which includes mosses, 
liverworts, many kinds of herbaceous plants, vines, 
and overhanging bushes. Sometimes they spread 
out to form placid pools, and again they are crowded 
in narrow gorges through which they rush with great 
energy. Such clear limpid streams usually are found 
in the country, seldom in a village or a city, but they 



WATER 89 

might be kept clear, sparkling, and most attractive 
even in a thickly settled community. 

Cities support large parks for the recreation and 
pleasure of their inhabitants. They have costly 
parkways or boulevards. Why should they not 
also have delightful walks ^ Walking is said to be 
the most healthful of exercises. It is certainly the 
least expensive, and the border of a small stream ex- 
tending through a parkway would be a most inter- 
esting place for a walk. The bordering vegetation 
might be retained. The parkway might fit the topog- 
raphy, being narrow where the land on either side 
was useful for buildings or home grounds, and wider 
where the stream ran through a ravine or a valley 
unfitted without great expense for buildings or homes. 
In many cases, such a parkway might be accessible 
only by means of the path just proposed. In other 
cases, when width and direction warranted, a drive 
might be made in addition to the path. Speaking 
from a practical standpoint, a development of this 
kind might add many dollars to the value of real 
estate on either side, instead of depreciating these 
values by having the banks of the stream serve as a 
dumping place for ashes, tin cans and other refuse. 

The writer can recall streams, usually known by 



90 LANDSCAPE-GARDENING 

such names as "Cold Brook," and "Silver Creek," 
which once were as beautiful as nature could 
make. They were in the country near a growing 
city. Gradually the native growth along their 
borders was all destroyed. Then the areas of 
bordering land became pastures and the streams 
during high water began to wash away the land 
on either side, so that they grew more and more 
crooked and the bare earth exposed gave them 
an unsightly appearance. Then streets were de- 
veloped near them, and their banks were further 
disfigured by the dumping of refuse of all kinds. 
This was often done clandestinely in spite of 
warning signs, the refuse including not only ashes 
and tin cans mentioned above, but old bed springs, 
broken dishes, furniture and dead animals. Finally 
the streams were replaced with large sewers and so 
the beauty of the original charming features of the 
native landscape was lost, save in memory, to the 
present generation, and lost completely to all fu- 
ture inhabitants. 

Cities are willing to spend liberally, even medium- 
sized cities spending hundreds of thousands of dollars 
and larger cities not hesitating at millions, for the 
purpose of developing great parks. Such expendi- 



WATER 91 

tures are in accordance with good judgment and 
wise foresight, but the retention of open running 
streams with all the beauty originally found 
along -their margins would be just as wise. Walks 
along the borders of such streams in going to 
and from one's work would give a daily pleasure 
(Fig. 16). Seats arranged within sound of a water- 
fall or commanding a view along a stretch of 
running water fringed with overhanging willows 
would make ideal resting places. Occasionally 
such streams are found within the boundaries of 
great parks, and although these parks are developed 
for the production and preservation of beautiful 
scenery, they contain no features more attractive 
than these lively brooks. Why not keep such fea- 
tures (active running streams) in intimate relation 
with the homes of a great city ^ They require but 
little land, scarcely more than the parkway along 
the side of a broad street. If properly treated, the 
care would be inexpensive and the appreciation thus 
shown for nature would make a valuable reputation 
for any community (Fig. 17). 

What has been stated about small streams can 
be said with even greater force of larger ones. They 
may have been innocent, harmless and beautiful 



92 



LANDSCAPE-GARDENING 




Fig. i6. — The Water in the Landscape. One of the streams as beautiful 
as nature can make. Small streams when first discovered are supplied 
with clear water and bordered with vegetation. 



WATER 



93 



when the country was new, but with its development, 
with the cutting away of woods and the denuding 
of their banks, they become destructive and danger- 
ous. Often the bottom lands of medium-sized streams 
become waste land after the destruction of the forest. 



. ' -^ ''-r^ \ \ J'«^. WtG-k ^t;.fl,. /?;.„' "/ r ■> 



^J^^ 







^^\ 



Fig. 17. — The Utilizing of a Stream. Sketch showing parkway in city 
following course of brook. 

The freshets gouge out the banks and hillsides con- 
fining the stream, and distribute the material, sand, 
gravel, and clay, upon the flooded land, making it use- 
less for agriculture. The swollen creeks and rivers tear 
out bridges, causing great loss and inconvenience. 
The bottom land is really rich in plant-food, and usu- 
ally has abundant moisture. The valleys are warm 



94 LANDSCAPE-GARDENING 

in summer, so that trees grow to great size. If it 
was merely a question of dollars, a forest growth 
covering the bottom lands and steep hillsides along 
our smaller rivers would have paid well, since the 
value of the yearly growth would be more than an 
ordinary farm crop. But one should also con- 
sider the beauty which such a growth would 
insure. 

As seen from a balloon or flying machine, the 
courses of streams would be shown by the irregular 
growth of forest. As observed from adjoining farms? 
there would be bays and promontories of foliage, 
giving pleasing lights and shadows. There would 
be a beautiful sky-line. 

The bordering growth would show at the extreme 
height the tops of oaks, tulip trees, elms, maples, 
ash trees of various kinds, sycamores, beeches, lin- 
dens, which, in any of the middle states, might reach 
a height of over one hundred feet and have trunks 
with diameters ranging from three to five feet. The 
lower growth would include ironwoods, blue beeches, 
thorn-apples, crab-apples, red-buds, dogwoods, vi- 
burnums, hazel bushes, elderberries, roses, wild crabs, 
Virginia creepers, bittersweet, goldenrod, asters, and 
other plants, producing a growth so beautiful that 



WATER 



95 



it would be the envy of the designers and frequenters 
of public parks. 

If forest belts of this kind, extending along all the 
streams, could be public property under the control 
of an able man, with the help of intelligent and en- 
thusiastic assistants, it would be a great asset for 




^^i^^ 






^^^ W 



"?S:-^i2i^ 






fe^" 



:£££a£S^^i:3 



Fig. i8. — The Saving of the Waterway. Sketch showing bird's-eye view 
of wooded growth along borders of a stream. 

a country (Fig. i8). The gain to adjoining farms 
would be greater than the loss. All neighborhoods 
would have comparatively near at hand beautiful 
park-like areas to visit for a holiday. There would 
be picnic places, swimming holes, canoe courses, fish- 
ing, and a chance to study wild growth. Such areas 



96 LANDSCAPE-GARDENING 

would be refuges for birds and wild flowers. They 
would furnish places for studying many things that 
would add interest to life. They would perpetuate 
for future generations the many natural charms which 
have delighted the boys and girls of the past gener- 
ation, charms which are now lost in many places, 
but which might be restored with advantage. 

The assistants who would have charge of definite 
stretches of the river forests just described would be 
equipped for their work by being especially trained 
as landscape-gardeners and foresters. The two pro- 
fessions can well be combined in one for work of this 
kind. An assistant with this training might have 
charge of a stretch of many miles of forest border- 
ing our waterways. He would direct laborers who 
would grow to love their work. This work would 
consist in cutting certain trees and shrubs, the re- 
moval of which would improve the general effect or 
benefit the better trees and shrubs which remained. 
The material cut would in many cases produce fire- 
wood, which would have some value, and at times 
trees which had reached maturity would be cut for 
saw logs which would produce good lumber. The 
small branches and refuse could be burned on adjoin- 
ing farms, where the ashes would make a good fer- 



WATER 97 

tilizer. It is hardly to be expected that such forests 
would be self-supporting, but they would cost so 
little that the pleasure they would give would be 
obtained at a very low price. The forest growth 
would protect the river banks and hillsides and also 
the bridges and roads, probably saving each town- 
ship far more than the cost of maintenance. 

Larger rivers, where they pass through cities, 
should be bordered with streets. Their banks would 
then be controlled by the city authorities and might 
be placed underthe supervision of park commissioners. 
The buildings fronting such streets would have the 
advantage of beautiful scenery. Many instances 
might be given of the added value to real estate com- 
manding views of attractive landscapes. For office 
buildings, the better class of shops, and many public 
buildings, locations on these river streets might be 
decidedly advantageous. Strangers visiting cities, 
as well as the inhabitants, often seek the bridges to 
look up and down the river. The arrangement just 
described with well planted river banks furnishing 
a setting for good buildings would be a great improve- 
ment over what is frequently seen. Too often the 
banks are entirely denuded of vegetation and strewn 
with pieces of tin, broken crockery, ashes and cinders 



98 LANDSCAPE-GARDENING 

and other refuse dumped from the rear end of stores, 
factories and other buildings which face away from 
the river (Figs. 19 and 20). 

For certain kinds of business, it is true that some 
concentration of traffic is desirable ; that streets 




Fig. 19. — The Spoiling of the Rivers. Large rivers where they pass 
through cities should be bordered with streets. Their banks would then 
be controlled by the city authorities and might be placed under the super- 
vision of park commissioners. 

should not be too wide ; that one-sided streets are 
objectionable and that city squares which make such 
streets really depreciate values. Nevertheless, there 
is a value in broad open spaces, a value not always 
appreciated. An occupant of an office takes delight 
in a view to the country, to the ocean or other large 
body of water, or to any clear extensive space. 

It is one of the attributes of a river that it preserves 
an unobstructed stretch of opening. This space 
should count as one of the assets of a city. How 



WATER 99 

can it be made most eflfective ? If a street extends 
along each side of the river, all the persons using 
these streets will have long views up and down its 
course, views whose interest may be enhanced by 
well-designed bridges or by beautiful buildings with 
groups of trees, belts of shrubs, vines and herbaceous 
plants so arranged as to frame in or make a setting 




Fig. 20. — The Violation of Beauty. A large river which passes through 
the center of a flourishing city with a large population. The refuse- 
covered bank is typical of many American cities. 

for the objects and spaces one wishes to see. These 
river streets might extend into the country as river 
roads and have the advantage of attractive scenery, 
easy grades and directness. Such locations are fre- 
quently selected by engineers for railroads, and they 
would be equally advantageous for pleasure driving 
and ordinary traffic (Fig. 21). Streets are like 
rivers in preserving long stretches of open space. 
When the street spaces are separated from the 



lOO 



LANDSCAPE-GARDENING 




Fig. 21. — Utilizing the River-Side. The bank of a river is as suitable for 
a road as for a railway. 



WATER loi 

river space, they add nothing to the effectiveness 
of the latter. This is the case where buildings 
intervene. On the other hand, where the street 
spaces join that of the river, they add materially 
to its value in the landscape. 

The arrangement recommended need not interfere 
with using the river as a source of power, since the 
power can easily be carried on a wire to any suitable 
place for a factory. The construction of dams, 
while interfering with the effect of running water, 
may sometimes substitute for this the reflections of 
still water and a desirable place for boating. When 
a dam is placed above a city and the water of the 
river is carried in a canal to some lower point for the 
development of power, the normal flow of water 
through the river channel below the dam is, of course, 
reduced. Some compensation for this loss of river 
beauty due to lack of water might be obtained by 
separating the river-bed into deeper channels and 
islands, the latter to be planted with low-growing 
willows or other forms of vegetation that would not 
be injured by occasional freshets. The river-bed 
would thus become a kind of water park on which 
one would look from the bordering streets and from 
the bridges. If a dam is placed below a city, the 



I02 LANDSCAPE-GARDENING 

river, where crossed by bridges and bordered by 
streets, becomes like a lake in having comparatively 
still water which will reflect the arches and the foliage 
flanking the abutments and covering the earth em- 
bankments or hanging over the walls that stretch 
from bridge to bridge. 

In some ways, a dam below a city is preferable 
to one above. It saves the expense of a canal and 
the bridges that span it. It allows the bordering 
streets to lie close to the embankment where they 
will command the best views. It provides boating 
close at hand where employees and others could get 
delightful exercise even during the brief hour or so 
allowed for luncheon. It would also furnish a place 
for swimming. Since the level of the water would 
be reasonably stationary, the effect of the overhanging 
branches of groups of trees and the bordering foliage 
of shrubs and vines would be most satisfactory. 

There are, to be sure, waterfalls, sometimes near 
cities, where scenic value far outweighs that of any 
power that may be developed. Such value should 
be preserved, a thing most diflicult to accomplish, 
because scenic value does not put dollars into the 
pockets of those who most appreciate it. 

The urgent plea which this book would make is 



WATER 103 

for the recognition and preservation of the beauty 
of all streams both large and small, In the country 
and In the cities as well. In cities, watercourses 
and their borders should become a part of the park 
systems, usually the most Interesting and. useful as 
well as the least expensive In maintenance. Such 
recognition of beauty and the preservation of river 
scenery would show that all men and women do not 
live for dollars, but that they love beauty, the most 
satisfactory and all-pervading attribute of this world. 
The development of water power Is to be com- 
mended. When a ton of coal Is burned, there Is 
one ton less In the world's reserve, but when the 
power of falling water Is utilized, nothing Is taken 
from the future because the supply of water is con- 
tinually replenished. When coal Is burned, the at- 
mosphere Is usually polluted with smoke and the 
beauty of the scenery injured or destroyed. The 
development of water power does not affect air, but 
it does often Injure scenery by flooding and killing 
trees along the banks of the rivers that are utilized by 
the construction of dams. The engineer who is skill- 
ful In the construction of dams and the installation 
of turbines and generators Is not always appreciative 
of the beauty of running water and tree-covered 



104 LANDSCAPE-GARDENING 

banks. His work should always be undertaken with 
the advice and assistance of an able landscape-de- 
signer. River scenery has real value and should 
not be destroyed without substituting in its place 
scenery of equal or greater value. Rivers are not 
only attractive features in a landscape but they 
serve for recreation in many ways. Their use as 
sources of power should not destroy their other 
possibilities. There are cases in which the recrea- 
tional value is far greater than any utilitarian one, 
and the destruction of the former for the sake of the 
latter is a loss. 

LAKES 

Like rivers, lakes are naturally beautiful. Their 
shores are so shaped as to withstand the action of 
water and ice. The vegetation along their margins 
is generally pleasing when they are first discovered. 
The outlines given them by nature are nearly always 
satisfactory. The natural beauty of lakes, however, 
like that of rivers, is subject to dangers on account 
of the utilitarian possibilities of these bodies of still 
water. Perhaps the greatest injury to their general 
appearance is due to the construction of ice-houses. 
These are often unnecessarily obtrusive. If they 



WATER 105 

were placed some distance back from the water and 
subordinated in the landscape by planting willows 
or other suitable trees on each side, they would not 
be so objectionable. 

The next feature most destructive of lake scen- 
ery is the construction of boat-houses extending 
out into the water; and hardly less injurious to 
the appearance of water margins are the concrete 
and masonry walls which give a light-colored scar 
to the otherwise peaceful and quiet margins. The 
summer cottages also frequently destroy the at- 
traction which has drawn their owners to lake 
borders. The most obvious remedy for the un- 
sightliness caused by the structures mentioned is 
to place such as are necessary back from the shore. 
A boat-house set back in a bank or inlet need not 
be ugly. An ice-house is difficult to manage in a 
landscape on account of its large size, but much 
can be done to mitigate its usual ugliness by se- 
lecting a proper location and subordinating it by 
planting near it trees that attain great breadth 
and height. The walls along the shore are usually 
unnecessary and should be omitted. A summer 
cottage can be so placed that with proper staining 
or painting and suitable planting, it will be quite 



io6 LANDSCAPE-GARDENING 

unobtrusive and still allow its occupants to enjoy 
the most delightful views over the water. When 
walls along the shore are really necessary, they 
often can be constructed with bowlders placed ir- 
regularly upon a slanting surface. When the ac- 
tion of the waves is so strong as to make the use 
of cement necessary, this material can frequently 
be employed so it will not be seen by placing upon 
it bowlders and gravel and planting shrubs or vines 
just above it. 

The study of natural lakes will help in the con- 
struction of artificial lakes and ponds. Natural 
lakes have been formed by glaciers which gouge 
out basins and then recede and leave glacial lakes, 
or by rivers which change their course and leave 
bodies of water in their former channels, or by the 
obstruction of streams, or by any hollow land sur- 
face which catches and holds water. The natural 
water supply may be springs, streams, or merely 
rain and melting snow. The features to be studied 
are the general outlines, the shores and the border 
growth. A lake becomes interesting when one por- 
tion is hidden from another. The object which 
separates the two portions may be a hill, a rise of 
ground, or a growth of trees and bushes. The 



WATER 107 

effect desired may sometimes be obtained even when 
the water's edge is nearly straight by variation in a 
marginal growth. A tree or a group of trees may 
send branches out over the water to a distance of 
twenty to thirty feet, and next to such a group the 
ground may be covered merely with small bushes 
and vines. Thus the bank of a lake which fills 
an abandoned river-bed and is somewhat canal- 
like in outline, may become by suitable planting 
extremely interesting. 

Natural lakes have usually been in existence a 
long time. Their shores have, therefore, become 
fixed and the slopes of these shores indicate the shape 
best adapted to resisting wave action. Rocky 
banks show the best form for an artificial barrier 
of this kind. The distribution of bowlders along 
natural shores should be studied to learn how to 
make the best use of such material in artificial 
lakes. 

A border growth of trees and bushes often occurs 
where banks are steep, showing how to protect 
hillsides or abrupt banks from being washed away 
or undermined by water. Cat-tails, pickerel-weed, 
sedges and other growth along water margins indi- 
cate the conditions favorable to such growth. One 



io8 LANDSCAPE-GARDENING 

goes to natural lakes to study the treatment of 
such water, just as one would consult a man of long 
experience in any given line for information gained 
by such experience. 

Artificial lakes. — In the development of home 
grounds, parks and other open spaces, it may be 
taken for granted that still bodies of water will 
be introduced when conditions are favorable. The 
mirror-like surfaces of lakes and ponds give new 
beauty to their surroundings (Fig. 22). They show 
the light of the sun and moon and on still nights 
even that of the stars. They reflect the hills and 
clouds, the overhanging trees and vine-covered 
banks. They beautify the landscape and may serve 
as places for swimming, fishing, boating, and skating. 

When are conditions favorable ? The first req- 
uisite is a supply of water, and the second a suit- 
able location. The water may come from springs, 
streams, or wells. In the latter case, objection 
may be made to the cost of pumping, but when 
there is an abundant supply of ground water, the 
amount spent in securing it to supply a lake will usu- 
ally give more pleasure than that expended in any 
other way. Spring water is most satisfactory since 
it costs nothing and is free from sediment. The 



WATER 



109 




I lo LANDSCAPE-GARDENING 

water from streams may bring large quantities of 
sediment, especially during storms and thawing 
weather, and so gradually fill up a lake and 
cause a muddy appearance. Several remedies 
for this difficulty may be suggested. A border of 
perennial vegetation along the route of any stream 
before it reaches a proposed lake may keep its water 
clear. (See page 88.) The water of a stream 
may be diverted during freshets into a channel ex- 
tending around the lake. When a deposit of sedi- 
ment cannot be prevented, it can be cleaned out 
by various methods. It is usually rich in plant- 
food and might be useful in improving poor land or 
in preparation for planting trees. For this pur- 
pose, the deposit can be obtained by using a suc- 
tion pump, or if the water can be drained off, by 
hauling the sediment away in carts or cars. If not 
needed, the sediment can be washed into the stream 
below by opening a gate in the dam. 

For good appearance and for economy in con- 
struction, lakes should be located in ravines, val- 
leys or depressions. One advantage in forming a 
lake by damming a stream and filling its valley 
with water is that the shores of such a lake, es- 
pecially along its sides where the water is confined 



WATER III 

by natural slopes of the valley, will usually be 
satisfactory in outline. The dam will be the diffi- 
cult part to manage. The site for this should be 
chosen where the valley is narrow. Ample pro- 
vision must be made in the overflow for the larg- 
est freshet that can come. The water in falling 
over the dam would gouge out any yielding material. 
A durable cement apron must, therefore, be con- 
structed with protection at the sides, and this must 
be carried to a point where the flow of the stream 
below the dam is comparatively level. It is well 
to subordinate this cement apron by inserting 
bowlders while the cement is soft and by making 
use also of cobblestones, gravel and overhanging 
bushes. If the overflow can be prolonged into a 
series of falls and rapids with intervening pools, 
it will add interest to the lake's outlet and aid in 
producing a natural effect. No masonry or cement 
work should rest on filled ground. If the overflow 
is carried along the side of the valley instead of 
the center for a short distance it may help in getting 
a solid foundation, and in giving an interesting vari- 
ation to the line of the channel. When the valley 
in which the dam is constructed is broader than the 
space required for the greatest overflow, a portion 



1 1 2 LANDSCAPE-GARDENING 

of the dam may be an earth embankment which 
should be carried well above high-water mark. 
In the center of this embankment a core wall should 
be constructed — not for strength, but to keep 
muskrats and other water animals from burrow- 
ing through. A thin wall will answer the purpose, 
but it should be carried well into the bank on either 
side. It need not extend above high water in the 
lake. If the earth embankment is broadened where 
it joins the natural bank, and planted in harmony 
with the growth along the sides of the lake, it will 
aid in giving a natural appearance. Earth em- 
bankments, even when built of sand and gravel, 
may be made water-tight by mixing clay in the 
stream which they obstruct, the sand filtering out 
the clay from the water flowing through the em- 
bankment until all interstices are closed. The 
bottom of artificial lakes may be made tight by a 
layer of puddled clay. If a sand or gravel bottom 
is desired, these materials can be placed on top of 
this waterproof layer. 

There are advantages and disadvantages in stock- 
ing a lake with fish. If the water is cold enough, 
trout and bass would be unobjectionable. Carp, 
while keeping the water free from certain objec- 



WATER 113 

tlonable weeds, usually stir up the bottom so that 
the water becomes muddy. This is also true of 
goldfish. Mosquitoes in the larva state (wig- 
glers) are eaten by fish. A lake which is large enough 
to be stirred by the wind will be free from wigglers 
except where the water is kept stationary by cat- 
tails or other water-loving plants. Mosquitoes are 
sometimes killed by the application of kerosene 
or other oils to the surface of the water. A lake 
has so many attractions that one can afford to take 
some trouble to keep it free from weeds and mos- 
quitoes.* 

To insure a lake's appearing at its best, the banks 
should be low at those points of the shore over 
which the water is most frequently observed (Fig. 23). 
Thus, borders nearest a veranda or the windows of a 
house from which the lake is seen should be low so 
that the surface of the water will be visible its en- 
tire length in the line of view. On the other hand, 
banks which are seen meeting the water each side 
of a view may be steep and high and covered with 
a high growth. A list of plants suitable for cov- 
ering the low borders would include Virginia creepers 
and other vines, violets, marsh marigolds, certain 
kinds of iris, grass of Parnassus, bluets, forget- 



114 



LANDSCAPE-GARDENING 



me-nots, white clover, ground ivy, and many 
others. 

The high banks which are glimpsed across the 
water, but which do not lie between any principal 
point of view and the lake, offer good opportunities 




'*?'" 









■■>•^,\->v■t^;^^ 






f/:: 










'■■^ 






m 



\ \ '■■'■, j|i) <[[{i|/.7;.vr^ ^:;P'' / \-"' 



. . , ■3f.:;':!(-'4;.;'5'.-' ,-■■ 



#i- 



c/^l 



B 






Fig. 23. — A Landscape Lake. Showing plan and sections of artificial lake 
and its surroundings. Section yi B shows point of site A. With grade as 
shown by full line A E F, the entire length of the lake is seen. With 
grade shown by dotted line A G F, a. large portion of the lake is hidden. 



WATER 115 

for attractive groupings of trees and shrubs. On a 
south bank, a mixture of hemlocks and birches would 
be pleasing, with a ground covering of yews and ferns 
in certain places. On the sunny north slopes, 
if one desired rich autumn coloring, one could not 
do better than to select sugar maples anywhere 
in the northern portion of the eastern half of the 
United States. Other trees noted for their fall 
coloring, but found in a more restricted area, in- 
clude sassafras, tulip trees, birches, white ash, sweet 
gum, flowering dogwood, pepperidge, blue beech, 
pin cherries, and some of the oaks. The stag- 
horn sumac, which often grows to the size of a 
small tree, is rich in color and so are all the other 
sumacs. The shrubby dogwoods turn purple, red, 
and yellow. The common hazel is often wonder- 
ful in color. Other maples help to make Ameri- 
can autumns glorious, the red maple being es- 
pecially brilliant in certain portions of New Eng- 
land, where it is frequently accompanied by the 
equally brilliant blueberry. All of the above na- 
tive trees are suitable for planting about artificial 
lakes when these are extensive enough to provide 
space along their borders for both openings and 
woods. 



1 16 LANDSCAPE-GARDENING 

Islands may furnish additional space for plant- 
ing. When these are introduced, they should be 
so placed as not to diminish the apparent size of 
the lake. They would naturally be located rela- 
tively near one of the shores. They hide a portion 
of the lake and thus help to make it interesting. 
They also furnish an excellent opportunity to show 
marginal planting to advantage. 

When one thinks of New England, certain por- 
tions of the middle states, and the region traversed 
by the Alleghany mountains, other plants come to 
mind which should certainly be mentioned in the 
abbreviated list given here as suitable for plant- 
ing about lakes. These are the rhododendrons, 
azaleas, mountain laurels, sweet pepper bushes, 
bayberries, andromedas, wild roses and hollies, in- 
cluding the inkberry and the winterberry. The 
spring-flowering plants of woody growth would 
include, besides many of those already mentioned, 
the juneberry, red-bud, crab-apples and thorn- 
apples, elderberries, and many others. If there 
are open areas stretching away from a lake, one 
can imagine them covered with herbaceous plants 
which may flower from spring until fall. If the 
ground in such an area is quite moist, the sequence 



WATER 117 

of bloom might include marsh marigolds, iris, marsh- 
mallows, lilies, various eupatoriums, including Joe- 
Pye weed, some species of helianthus, ironweed, 
lobelias, snakeheads, ladies' tresses, gentians, asters, 
and grass of Parnassus. If the banks of a lake are 
steep and somewhat gravelly or rocky, columbines, 
saxifrages, harebells, butterfly-weeds, goldenrods, 
and some of the asters would be at home. On steep 
banks that are moist and shady, one would expect 
to find trilliums, hepaticas, wild ginger, adder- 
tongues, bloodroots, squirrel-corn, maidenhair ferns, 
mosses and liverworts. 

If a lake is near a house or in a city square, it 
would be allowable to plant the more usual forms 
of cultivated plants about its borders, but when 
the graceful wild beauty of a natural lake is desired, 
one would not expect to see such subjects as lilacs 
and peonies. 

The designing of artificial lakes, embracing, as 
it should, some knowledge of engineering, a study 
of outlines, ability in grading and a wide acquaint- 
ance with plants, requires great skill in the art of 
landscape-gardening and furnishes a good test of the 
designer's proficiency. 



CHAPTER VIII 

Home Grounds 

Thus far, this book has taken up mainly gen- 
eral principles and a study of those features that 
might be introduced into any ornamental grounds. 
It will now discuss the application of those prin- 
ciples to the development of grounds for special 
purposes. The devotion of land to home grounds 
may very properly be considered first, since such 
grounds are so widely distributed, have existed 
for such a long time, and are so intimately con- 
nected with all lives ; for even if a man lives in an 
apartment building or a hotel, he has friends whose 
home grounds he enjoys, or he hopes to have 
grounds of his own sometime. 

When one considers the development of grounds 
for special purposes, one must first have clearly 
in mind what these objects are. What purposes 
are served by home grounds ^ They are often 
called private grounds, and this indicates one serv- 
ice they may render. There are many others. 

ii8 



HOME GROUNDS 119 

The house gives protection from weather, a place 
where one may regulate the temperature, read, 
play, eat, and sleep. Its windows also provide views 
of the outside world and allow sunshine and air to 
enter. It is largely through them that the work 
of the architect is connected with that of the land- 
scape-gardener. The latter must realize : first, that 
the persons who live in the house and their guests 
need sunlight, air, and an attractive outlook when 
they are in the house; second, that the approach 
to the house should be easy and natural; third, 
that impressions of the house and grounds from 
the usual outside points of view and especially 
from points along the approach drive or walk should 
be pleasing; fourth, that a reasonable degree of 
privacy should be enjoyed in the grounds as well 
as in and about the house; fifth, that special fea- 
tures like front lawns, flower-gardens, swimming- 
pools, vegetable-gardens, service yards, bird baths, 
summer-houses, seats, garages, stables and chicken- 
houses should be so placed as to be arranged con- 
veniently with regard to each other and the pur- 
poses they are to serve and also appear well in the 
landscape or general composition of the home. 

In making a home, the first proceeding after 



1 20 LANDSCAPE-GARDENING 

choosing a lot is to select a site for the house. Re- 
membering the value of sunshine in the living-rooms, 
the house will advisedly be well supplied with win- 
dows on the east, south, and west sides. It is from 
these windows that the grounds will be seen, and 
as these grounds should have an appearance of 
freedom and seem as extensive as conditions will 
allow, the house should usually be placed near the 
north line of the lot. Exceptions to this rule may 
be made, however, when there is a permanent open 
space adjoining the south line of the lot like that 
insured by a river, lake, park, valley or stretch 
of relatively low land. If the lot itself is low near 
the north boundary, and high along the south side, 
or if it has marked variations of level, or commands 
exceptionally fine views in any direction, these 
facts may lead to a modification of the rule given 
above. The site selected should be one that can 
be well drained, in fact, as well as have the appear- 
ance of being so. A house placed with reference 
to the conditions so far stated will usually but not 
always have the benefit of the most needed breezes 
(Fig. 24). 

The direction of the prevailing winds should have 
due consideration. With a small lot, the main 



HOME GROUNDS 



121 



jL*g'3"H I, g 



fi. 











^■-> 



(^■;;■.c^.;: "I ^ 

^./"'■'■"'li .(»•'•*> I •1"' 



c/3 






u:^,i^y. 






Fig. 24. — Plan for Home Grounds. The house is placed at angle with 
streets, enabling the living-rooms and porch to command best views and 
receive southwest breeze. Plan shows complete turnaround for automo- 
biles, part of this turnaround being formed by street pavements. 



122 LANDSCAPE-GARDENING 

lines of the house will preferably parallel the lot 
boundaries, but with ample room it may be wise to 
face the house with reference to topography, view, 
or breeze, instead of placing it with regard to the 
lines of the lot or street. Protection from the cold 
north or northwest winds may sometimes be sought 
and be secured partially by placing the house on a 
south or southeast slope, or by having a protecting 
belt of planting. 

In most cases, the site for a house can be easily 
reached from the highway, and so the choice of 
its location is made with reference to other con- 
siderations. Occasionally, however, difficulty or ease 
of access may have more weight in determining 
the place for a house than even the view or some of 
the other factors which have been mentioned. If a 
drive is required, the house usually should be placed 
so there will be room for this drive between the 
house and north lot boundary, or between the 
house and the nearest boundary. If the drive and 
the entrance to which it leads can be on the side of 
the house not devoted to living-rooms and verandas 
or terraces, the latter will be free from intrusion 
(Fig. 25). This fact may also have a bearing on the 
house's location. Finally, existing trees or other 



HOME GROUNDS 



123 



growth may influence the location of the house. 
A great oak that has been growing a hundred years 







Fig. 25. — Another Example. Sketch for home grounds in Winnetka, HI. 

may help to make a beautiful picture if it stands 
in proper relation to the dwelling. It is worth while 



1 24 LANDSCAPE-GARDENING 

to make such a picture by selecting a house loca- 
tion with reference to such a tree. This would be 
true if in place of the oak there were any other 
desirable tree or group of trees, or a group of shrubs 
that could not easily be moved. 

WALKS AND DRIVES 

The method of reaching a house is the next step 
after the determination of its site. Three cases 
will be considered : (a) when only a walk is re- 
quired ; (b) when a drive answers also for a walk ; 
(c) when the situation calls for both a walk and 
a drive. 

(a) Walks should lead in an easy natural way 
from a point of beginning to a destination. When 
a walk is an approach to a house, its point of be- 
ginning is either the place where one leaves the 
street sidewalk or where one alights from an auto- 
mobile. The destination will be the entrance door 
of the house or the steps leading to it. If this door 
faces the street and the distance is short, the walk 
may with propriety be straight. If the distance 
to be traveled is considerable and the lot large, a 
curved walk will usually fit the situation better, 
especially if the street approach is mostly from one 



HOME GROUNDS 125 

direction. To determine the location of the curved 
walk, one should think of the lot as being graded 
and covered with a turf, but without any definite 
walk. The path that one would then naturally 
follow in going from office to entrance door would 
usually indicate the proper location for the perma- 
nent walk. This location, which would ordinarily 
be a graceful curve without reverses, might be 
modified to avoid a tree or cutting into the lawn 
in a disagreeable way. If the surface of the lot is 
varied, if there are hills, valleys, or ravines, the 
walk may wind back and forth to a limited extent 
to secure an easy grade, but a serpentine line should 
be used as little as possible. The most satisfactory 
curve is one in which the rate of curvature con- 
tinually changes in one direction, that is, from a 
gentle curve to one more pronounced, or the reverse, 
instead of being uniform as in a circle. 

The grade of a walk should be easy, preferably 
not more than one-half inch rise in one foot, al- 
though it is better to have a rise of one inch In a foot 
than to provide steps. The use of steps may lead 
to an uncomfortable jolt, or even a dangerous fall 
at night unless they are well lighted. Sometimes, 
however, steps are necessary, and then the rule of 



126 LANDSCAPE-GARDENING 

two risers and one tread equaling twenty-five 
inches is a good one when the riser is not less than 
three or four inches. If the grade is just in excess 
of that permitted for a walk, a riser of four to six 
inches with a tread requiring three footsteps from 
one step to the next is allowable, the odd number of 
footsteps being used to insure the lifting from one 
tread to the next being done alternately by the 
muscles of each leg (Fig. 26). 

A width of five feet is suitable for most walks 
to private houses. A cross-section with a slight 
crown gives a better appearance than a flat sur- 
face. The material used may be concrete, bricl^, 
asphalt, or stone. Concrete is smooth and dur- 
able, but its light color is objectionable. This, 
however, may be modified by the introduction of 
coloring matter or by giving the surface a granular 
appearance with fine gravel. A brick walk is good 
in color, and if moss or other fine vegetation grows 
in the joints, it may be unusually pleasing. 

Before the walk is laid, the ground should be 
drained. If the land is high on one side and low 
on the other, surface water from the former should 
be carried to the latter underneath the walk through 
a pipe or culvert with a good fall to some outlet. 



HOME GROUNDS 



127 








Fig. 26. — Showing Steps. A, C, Concrete steps illustrating the rule of 
2 risers and i tread equaling 25 inches. B, Steps formed by using logs 
and backing with earth. D, Stone steps. E, Step with long tread. 

which should be ample so that water will not stand 
in the pipe and freeze. 



128 LANDSCAPE-GARDENING 

A good method of staking a walk is to carry on 
one arm a bundle of small stakes from one to three 
feet long and drop these one at a time along the 
route to be followed, spacing the stakes at uniform 
distances by pacing. An assistant will drive these 
stakes where they are dropped but only deep enough 
to secure them in a vertical position until they are 
lined to a satisfactory curve. To secure such a 
curve, one should look along the line of stakes, start- 
ing at one end, and direct the assistant to move 
each stake to the right or left until it is in the proper 
place. The entire line should be gone over in this 
way from each direction, repeating the lining if 
necessary, until the curve is satisfactory from any 
point of view. The uniform spacing of the stakes 
is advisable. Where a reverse is necessary, the 
stakes should gradually approach a straight line 
until the point of reverse is reached and then as 
gradually leave the straight line, the curve becom- 
ing more pronounced as one proceeds. While the 
curve approaches a straight line, it should never 
reach it ; that is, the curve should be continuous 
from one end to the other without any "tangents" 
(Fig. 27). 

Hardly any work is more interesting than stak- 



HOME GROUNDS 129 

ing a beautiful line. The line of stakes may be in 
the center or at one side of the proposed walk, and 
measurements can be taken from each stake at right 
angles to the line to determine the location of the 
"form" at the edge of the walk. The profile or 
line determining the grade or vertical position of 



B____ C__...._:,^.._-_::_'^^^r^_ 



/A 

Fig. 27. — The Walk. Dots show stakes for center line of road. This curve 
gradually approaches a straight line at point of reverse C. The continuous 
curve is better than arcs of circles with straight lines. 

the walk may be fixed in much the same way by 
driving the stakes to a pleasing vertical curve. 
Instead of sighting over the tops of the stakes, it 
is more convenient to have three T's or rods of 
equal length, say four feet, and sight over the tops 
of these when they are held vertically resting on 
the tops of three consecutive stakes. Two as- 
sistants will be needed to hold these rods, the one 



I30 LANDSCAPE-GARDENING 

at the third stake being directed to drive it until 
the line over the tops of the rods is satisfactory. 
When the stake is driven to the proper grade, each 
assistant and the observer move forward along the 
line to the next stake and thus continue until all 
the stakes in the line are driven to the desired grade. 
When the profile of the grade is straight, the tops 
of the three T's will be in line. When it is con- 
vex upward, the third stake will be driven until 
the top of the T resting upon it is below the line 
over the tops of the other two, the distance below 
the line depending on the rate of vertical curvature. 
When the grade is concave upward, the third stake 
will be driven so that the T resting upon it will 
show above the line over the tops of the other two 
T's. By repeating the trials for grade in a way 
similar to that used in determining horizontal curves, 
a satisfactory profile can be found quickly. With 
a hand level, it is easy to determine when the grade 
Is within proper limits. 

It has been stated that when a walk Is curved, 
the curve should continue from end to end. It is 
a mistake to introduce a complete circular walk 
Inclosing a flower-bed, fountain, or statue, with the 
center of this circle in the center of the direct walk 



HOME GROUNDS 



131 



to the house (Fig. 28). If a tree or shrub which is 
good enough to be saved stands in the natural line 
of the walk, one should not make an abrupt detour 
around it, but shift the line for a long distance 
so that the curve will be good and leave the tree 
at one side. 

The surface of the walk should meet at Its edge 
the surface of the ground, the latter continuing for 




Fig. 28. — An Arrangement not Recommended. 

a short distance the slope of the former and then 
joining by a graceful curve the general grade of the 
land. This not only gives a good appearance, but 
it allows the water to run off from the walk. Some 
gardeners and janitors have a penchant for mak- 
ing a ditch along each edge of a walk. Such ditches 
are ugly In themselves even before they catch the 
papers and other refuse that will be swept into them. 



132 LANDSCAPE-GARDENING 

With a little care, the lawn will meet the walk in 
a neat, sharp line, but it is far better to have a few 
blades of grass lie on the walk than to disfigure it 
with ditches. 

(b) Much of what has been said regarding walks 
will apply to drives. If a lot is narrow, a straight 
drive from the street along the side of the house is 
proper. This may be used as a walk if it leads to 
the entrance door. If this door is in the front of 
the house facing the street, it may be reached by a 
short walk branching from the drive (Fig. 29). This 
arrangement saves expense and, what is more im- 
portant, it provides an unbroken area between the 
street and the house to be developed into a thing 
of beauty. If the house is quite far from the high- 
way, it is allowable to divert the entrance drive from 
a direct route somewhat for the sake of following 
the edge of a ravine or valley, passing a pond, tree, 
or other object of special interest, or bringing into 
notice one or more pleasing views, but the best 
view of all should be seen after entering the house 
and passing to the windows on the other side from 
the entrance. The immediate approach to the 
house on a slightly ascending grade is usually better 
than on either a level or descending grade. 



HOME GROUNDS 



133 




c^ 






134 LANDSCAPE-GARDENING 

It is desirable by the location of the drive and 
the arrangement of the planting to bring the house 
into view at a point where its appearance is most 
pleasing. From this point one will usually see two 
sides of the house and it will appear to be of the 
proper size. 

With automobiles, a drive having a reasonably 
hard, even surface is required. Such a drive is well 
adapted for a walk, and on a private approach 
the number of vehicles passing will not be great 
enough materially to interfere with the comfort 
of walking. A combined walk and drive, or rather 
a drive which is also used for a walk, appears better 
than two passageways through the lawn and 
planting. Moreover, its cost for construction and 
maintenance will be less. This method of reach- 
ing the house will, therefore, be advisable in many, 
perha|Ds iin most cases. 

(c) Sometimes, however, to insure greater 
privacy or safety, to secure more varied effects, 
or to allow the approach to the house from differ- 
ent directions, one or more walks may be needed 
in addition to the drive (Fig. 30). The location and 
construction of each would be in accordance with 
principles and directions given under (a) and (b). 



HOME GROUNDS 



135 



^ •'bi?'^''^' CLOTHE >V.ap : :-KaJ t>4.^ •■■>;f-5 







Fig. 30. — Another Example. Sketch for home grounds, 
Cedar Rapids, Iowa. 



136 LANDSCAPE-GARDENING 

Complete directions for the construction of drives 
are not included in this book, since these are easily 
found in treatises on engineering or government 
bulletins. It is the desire here to emphasize the 
importance of their location for convenience, com- 
fort, and good appearance. The laying out of a 
walk or drive on any desired grade is, however, so 
simple and generally useful that every one who has a 
farm or a large "place" in city or country should 
know how to do it. A hand level costing about 
six dollars is the only instrument required. With 
this, by merely sighting through, one can look in 
any direction and determine a horizontal line ex- 
tending from the eye. To illustrate how a line 
on any desired grade is located, suppose the 
observer's eye, when he is standing, to be five feet 
from the ground, and the desired grade five per 
cent. Stand at a low point on the proposed line. 
With the level select a point that is of the same 
height as the eye on the higher ground ahead and 
about one hundred feet away. Have an assistant 
pace one hundred feet toward this point and then 
direct him to move to the right or left until the 
spot upon which he stands is just on a level with 
the cross wire of the instrument. He will mark 



HOME GROUNDS 137 

this spot and then pace forward to another spot 
one hundred feet further on and five feet above the 
first spot determined, while the observer moves 
in Hke manner to the spot the assistant has just 
marked. By repeating this process, a Hne can be 
marked rising at the rate of five per cent. If the 
line along the desired route should descend, the 
observer will go ahead and sight back. If the line 
goes around a rise of the land which hides the point 
one hundred feet away, fifty feet can be paced in- 
stead of one hundred, and the observer will sight 
to a point on the assistant's clothing two and one- 
half feet above the ground on which he stands. 
For greater accuracy, the assistant can use a rod 
on which feet and fractions of a foot are plainly 
marked, and the distance can be measured with a 
tape, but for preliminary work, the method out- 
lined is rapid and sufficiently accurate to deter- 
mine whether the proposed line for a walk or drive 
is feasible or not. If conditions are favorable, that 
is, if the ground is open and reasonably smooth 
so that pacing will show rather closely the actual 
distance, the method outlined may answer for the 
final determination of the proposed line. It will 
also determine whether the grade must be changed. 



138 LANDSCAPE-GARDENING 

If a six per cent grade is required, the assistant for 
the observer, whose eye is five feet above the 
ground, would pace eighty-three and one-third 
feet instead of one hundred. For an easier grade, 
the assistant would pace farther when on an ascend- 
ing grade and the observer would do the pacing on 
a descending grade. If the observer's eye was more 
than five feet above the ground, the distance paced 
would be correspondingly greater. 

For a large place, there will be many walks or 
drives in addition to those approaching the house 
from the highway, especially if there is uneven 
ground or forest, and the location of such walks 
and drives will be determined by methods similar 
to those just described. 

Having selected the site for the house and the lo- 
cation of the approaches to it from the highway, 
the landscape-gardener will proceed to choose sites 
for the other features desired by his client. These 
sites will be discussed briefly, approximately in the 
order of their importance. 

GARAGES 

Nearly everyone who builds a house will require 
a garage. There are many positions which it may 



HOME GROUNDS 139 

occupy. It should be subordinated to the house. 
It is well, although not absolutely essential, for 
it not to be visible at all on the approach to the 
house. Sometimes it is even advisable to place it 
on the street or between the street and the house 
at one side of the drive. It may form a part of 
the house. Occasionally, when the topography is 
favorable, it may be placed in the basement. Some- 
times it may be in an extension of the kitchen wing, 
or separated from the kitchen by a service yard. 
Again it will be at a distance, hidden from the 
house, where all noise connected with cleaning and 
repairing cars will be out of hearing, or it may be 
on an entirely different lot and perhaps a block 
or more away from the residence. The wishes of 
the owner will be the determining factor in its lo- 
cation, but the landscape-gardener should be able 
to suggest the most favorable positions, and when 
the site is chosen, arrange planting so as to give the 
best possible effect. Usually in front of the garage 
there must be space for turning. This space should 
be bounded at least partially by curved lines with 
radii of not less than twenty feet. It is assumed 
that a car will need a circle sixty feet in diameter 
in which to turn, but since it can turn by backing 



I40 LANDSCAPE-GARDENING 

and then going ahead, a full circle is not always 
required. It is important to have room enough 
for comfort, also to make the garage as unobtrusive 
as possible. 

SERVICE YARDS 

Service yards naturally will be placed where 
they will be easily accessible from the kitchen and 
laundry. Like garages, they should be unobtru- 
sive. A service yard furnishes a place for drying 
clothes, for storing temporarily supplies for the 
kitchen, and sometimes as a place of recreation for 
the servants. It should be at the end or back of 
the kitchen wing and may be inclosed by a wall, a 
fence, or a hedge of shrubbery. There would be 
no objection to planting trees north of a service 
yard, but they should not be placed where they will 
shade the yard during drying hours. When shrubs 
are used to give the desirable seclusion, they may 
appear as a natural group on the outside, and be 
trimmed for convenience along the boundaries of 
the service yard. Two shrubs most suitable for 
use in this connection are lilac and syringa (Phila- 
delphus), as they have many branches and make 
a screen even in winter. . Evergreens, when hardy. 



HOME GROUNDS 141 

will perhaps make a better screen than any de- 
ciduous shrub, but, in most cities, they are unre- 
liable on account of the smoke. If evergreens can 
be used, arbor-vitae and hemlocks are good be- 
cause they can be kept from growing too high. 
Broad-leaved evergreens are suitable wherever they 
are hardy and attain sufficient size. When walls 
or fences are used, they furnish a suitable place 
for vines. The south side of an inclosing wall is 
suitable for raising grapes, climbing roses, Vir- 
ginia creepers and clematis. Nearly all vines are 
satisfactory, provided a wire netting is placed for 
those not self-attaching. 

FRONT YARDS 

While garages and service yards are a necessity, 
from one point of view they are less important 
than the front yard. Their relation to the latter 
is much like that of the kitchen to the living- 
room or library. The front yard, meaning the 
open space on which may face the living-room, 
library, dining-room and veranda or terrace, should 
be the most artistic part of the home grounds. 
From every viewpoint, it should appear beautiful 
enough to photograph or paint. A front yard 



142 LANDSCAPE-GARDENING 

should have open space to show sky, clouds and 
sunshine. The sky space is bounded preferably 
by the outlines of trees and bushes. Such out- 
lines, if the growth is allowed to be natural, are 
sure to be graceful and pleasing. They will be high 
at one spot and low in another. They will be near 
at hand at one point and may be miles away in 
another direction. Sometimes a sky-line may de- 
scend to the ground., perhaps touching a hill, a 
prairie, or a range of mountains. If the hill is far 
aw^ay, no jarring effect may be produced, but, if 
close at hand, it is usually best to soften even the 
outline of the hill with some foliage. Sometimes 
the sky-line descends to a body of water which 
stretches away to the horizon. In such cases, after 
meeting its surface, the sky-line continues below the 
water, which may occupy a position in the real 
picture similar to that of the sky. This water, 
which may be a lake, a sea, or an ocean, should 
have its outline softened. If one looks out over a 
closely shaven lawn at a body of water, the effect 
is not as pleasing as when the edge of the lawn is 
modified by an indefinite growth like that of vines, 
bushes, or the graceful forms of certain herbaceous 
plants. 



HOME GROUNDS 143 

The ground of the front yard may be covered 
with grass or creeping plants. Between it and the 
sky-line there will appear a bank of foliage. This 
bank may be steep, may even overhang, giving a 
deep shade, or it may have a very gradual slope 
tapering off toward a distant view. It may be 
formed entirely of one kind of growth, yet appear 
varied because of the different amounts of light 
received in various parts. The foliage in itself 
may be varied, the leaves of certain trees or shrubs 
being glossy, while that of others is dull. The 
leaves may show a thousand different shapes. The 
bank of foliage may be sprinkled with ffowers or 
with fruits. The branches of trees or shrubs may 
spread far out over the ground in one place and 
recede in another out of sight. The boundary of 
trees and shrubs may be deciduous or evergreen. 
In the former case, a curtain or bank of trunks and 
branches will take the place of leaves In winter. 

The winter effect may be exceedingly Interesting, 
due to the various shades of color shown by the 
bark of twigs and trunks of trees, to the forms and 
colors of buds, and to the method of branching. 
With the leaves gone, the sky-line drops to a lower 
level, the space between its summer and winter 



144 LANDSCAPE-GARDENING 

positions being filled with an open, lace-like tracery 
against a light background. At times this back- 
ground is white, and the network of branches against 
it is more beautiful than the finest etching. Again, 
the lace-work of branches may be seen against a 
brilliant evening sky of red or yellow and give the 
impression of far deeper coloring than when such a 
sky is observed entirely in the open. 

Occasionally, it may be interesting to have an 
opening through the bank of foliage or boughs, 
this opening being entirely surrounded with growth 
and framing a distant landscape. Such an open- 
ing, however, must be studied with care and placed 
so it will not lessen the charm of the front yard it- 
self. Perhaps it would be best to keep the open- 
ing through the trees invisible from the house and 
let it come as a pleasant surprise from some bay 
or path where a seat might be placed. 

The kinds of trees and shrubs that should be 
selected to form the front yard boundary will de- 
pend on the size of the yard, the lie of the land, 
the views to be kept open, the soil and the climate. 
Preference usually should be given to existing growth. 
An oak tree that has been growing for a large part 
of a century is very likely to fit the local conditions, 



HOME GROUNDS 145 

and if these are not changed by the removal of a 
natural mulch of leaves, the lowering of the water- 
table, or in some other way, the tree should live 
for another hundred years. A study of the native 
woods in the vicinity will help materially in solv- 
ing the problem of what to plant. As it is im- 
portant not to cut off sunshine from the house, a 
small place should not have tall-growing trees, 
especially toward the east, south and west, when 
the lines of the rooms are parallel to the cardinal 
points of the compass. Sometimes a large tree 
may be placed diagonally out from the corner of 
the house and do no harm, because the sun can 
shine directly Into all the rooms at some time dur- 
ing the day. A personal fondness for certain plants 
will play a large part in the selection. Some per- 
sons like lilacs and others do not. Some have an 
aversion to evergreens, and others wish them in 
abundance. In making the choice, one Is deter- 
mining what to place against the sky canvas. One 
is selecting the forms and colors that harmonize 
with each other at all seasons of the year and es- 
pecially during the time the house is to be occupied. 
The choice of plants may be influenced by one's 
preference for etchings or paintings. 



146 LANDSCAPE-GARDENING 

The joining of the boundary growth with the lawn 
or ground cover calls for the exercise of skill. Satis- 
factory eflfects may result from allowing the lower 
branches of trees to spread out in their search for 
light and rest upon the lawn. Certain shrubs, 
like aromatic sumac, are well adapted for the border 
of an open space, as their lower branches spread 
horizontally, thus giving a graceful receding out- 
line. In a shadowy bay with more upright growth, 
a bed of ferns may find a congenial home. There 
are many flowering plants which like some shade 
and will help to make the front yard beautiful when 
they are planted near its south boundary. For 
the flowers which like sunshine, appropriate places 
can be found along the north side of open areas. 
A continuous uniform border of flowers, however, 
along the margin of groups of shrubs does not look 
well. One's aim should be to introduce trees, shrubs 
and flowers that will give harmonious combinations 
of color, effective contrasts of light and shade and 
graceful pleasing outlines. 

The floor of the front yard, the area about a 
house usually covered with turf, may be treated 
In various ways. Its grade must first be determined. 
The house should appear to be on the highest land 



HOME GROUNDS 



147 



in Its immediate vicinity. Even when placed on a 
hillside, there should be a narrow valley between 
the foundation of the house and the hill for appear- 
ance as well as for surface drainage. If the ground 
selected for a house site Is level, its appearance 
will be greatly Improved by even a slight varia- 
tion from a flat surface. Usually the earth exca- 
vated for foundations and basement or cellar can be 



Orioi'x'i Grade 




Fig. 31. — The Surface Lines. Showing grades about house. 

employed to make a broad gentle mound where the 
house is to stand (Fig. 31). Sometimes additional 
emphasis may be given to the mound by depressing 
the natural level surface beyond or outside of the 
fill about the house. Sometimes, if the grounds are 
extensive, it may even be wise to make a hill in 
one place and a valley in another. In determining 
the grade, there is a chance for the exercise of con- 
siderable ingenuity, but the final result must appear 
natural and dignified, not childish or artificial. 

The first step In the actual building of a house, per- 
haps after the construction of a road, should be the 



148 LANDSCAPE-GARDENING 

removal of all the good top soil from the site of the 
house and those portions of its surroundings which 
would be covered in the final grade. This soil 
should be put in one or more piles out of the way of 
building operations, yet conveniently near so that 
it can be easily replaced about the house after its 
completion. The lines of the finished grade should 
flow naturally into each other in every direction 
without sharp angles. Projecting rock ledges or 
bowlders are unobjectionable. They often make 
the grounds more beautiful and sometimes fur- 
nish admirable places for ferns, vines, mosses, 
lichens, or other plants. When the grading is done, 
the usual procedure is to sow lawn seed. There 
is hardly anything more beautiful than a well- 
kept, gently rolling lawn. The dew upon it in the 
morning, the play of sunlight on it, and its yield- 
ing to the pressure of one's foot, are delightful. Yet 
it is sometimes advisable to use other plants than 
grass and white clover for a ground cover. To 
mention but a few, one might list trailing juniper, 
horizontal cotoneaster, bearberry, spurge, par- 
tridge-berry, the low forms of yew, myrtle, violets, 
Virginia creeper, wild grapes, lily-of-the-valley, vir- 
gin's bower, wintergreen, wandering Jew, iris, and 



HOME GROUNDS 149 

day lily. The opportunities for experimenting in 
this direction are unlimited. 

Having secured a satisfactory ground cover for 
the open area, one must join this agreeably with 
the walls of the house or terrace. Sometimes this 
is done for two or three months with a certain meas- 
ure of success by using such plants as cannas, ge- 
raniums or begonias, but for the year round, plants 
with a hardy woody growth must be chosen, usu- 
ally shrubs or vines. The height of the plantation 
about the house can be varied as is the sky-line 
opposite. It can drop to the ground in places to 
give light to low windows or show some archi- 
tectural feature of the house, and climb to the roof 
in others. The shrubs selected may spread out 
away from the house or grow to a height sufficient 
to screen a veranda from the street. They may 
be chosen for beauty of leaves, blossoms, berries, 
for perfume or for color of twigs. The features 
of a front yard, the open space, the ground cover 
below, and the border plantations, may be common 
to all home grounds whether large or small. Even 
with the smallest grounds, there Is opportunity for 
endless enjoyment in planting Interesting and 
beautiful things, In watching them grow, smell- 



I so LANDSCAPE-GARDENING 

ing their perfume, guiding the growth of their gen- 
eral effect by adding in one place or taking away in 
another. 

And what of the final result, the completed front 
yard ? There never is any final result. The front 
yard is a continual growth, which may be so beauti- 
ful as to fill its owner with a constant desire to re- 
turn to it whenever he is away ; a place not only 
beautiful but restful because of its freedom from 
intrusion and its quietness and also because it is 
a part of its owner — is in fact his Garden of Eden. 
It is the most perfect example of the landscape- 
gardener's art, but while the landscape-gardener 
may make the original design, in its most perfect 
form it must be developed, adopted and loved by 
its owner. Into it will come birds with song, beau- 
tiful in shape and color and graceful in movement. 
Into it will come snow, rain, and sunshine. Into it 
will come the owner and his friends to enjoy their 
hours of leisure and from it they will watch the sun, 
moon, stars, the clear blue sky, clouds, and rain- 
bows. 

There are some persons, perhaps many, who will 
not appreciate this expression of the landscape- 
gardener's art. To them sky-lines, the winter with 



HOME GROUNDS 151 

its bare branches, and the summer with its green 
foliage, make no appeal. A similar statement might 
be made with regard to the work of painters and 
musicians, yet a knowledge and appreciation of 
painting and music add greatly to one's comfort 
and enjoyment in life, and so would a knowledge 
of landscape-gardening and an appreciation of the 
beauty of nature. The landscape-gardener can do 
no more useful thing for his client than to teach 
him to see this beauty, since, by so doing, he will 
give him more pleasure in living during the entire 
remaining portion of his life. The space which 
has been called "the front yard" and which may 
lie on at least three sides of a house is especially 
adapted to show natural beauty because it is seen 
so constantly. "Front yard" may not be the best 
term to apply to this space. It has been called 
the owner's Garden of Eden, and it is a garden in its 
best sense, yet to use the term "garden" might 
bring to mind a vegetable- or flower-garden, features 
which should ordinarily be kept out of the front 
yard. This yard may indeed have many flowers, 
but these blossoms should come naturally like those 
on a hawthorn, crab-apple, lilac, or in a peony or 
iris bed. Such flowers do not interfere with the 



1 52 LANDSCAPE-GARDENING 

feeling of repose that should exist in the front 
yard. To insure this feeling, the public street 
should, in a large measure, be excluded from view, 
especially that part nearest the house. It has 
sometimes been said that a home owner should 
not be selfish, that he should allow the public to see 
his beautiful grounds. In answer to this, it may 
be said that for the public a glimpse into such 
grounds, a glimpse leading to the exercise of one's 
imagination, is far more interesting than to have 
the property entirely exposed to view. Such 
glimpses can be provided without destroying privacy. 

In many cases, the walk to the front door may 
lie within the front yard and be bordered with 
flowers. Another allowable feature is a bird bath, 
provided this is unobtrusive and conveniently 
placed beneath the branches of a tree, or near a 
group of shrubs where birds can preen their feathers 
after bathing, A sun-dial on the north side of a 
front yard, or perhaps on a terrace, or the south 
wall of the house, is unobjectionable, but it should 
not stand in the middle of a lawn. 

With smaller houses, the dining-room and living- 
room may be united into one, and if a house is quite 
small, even the kitchen may be included in this 



HOME GROUNDS 153 

one room. In like manner, a small yard may com- 
prise more features than should be contained in a 
large one. For the sake of retaining the largest 
available space about a house, a small yard may 
even include the flower- and kitchen-gardens, and 
occasionally the service yard as well. In describ- 
ing the front yard, the aim has been to call to mind 
what is ideal, an arrangement of grounds and plant- 
ing that will give most pleasure to the intelligent 
and appreciative. 

FLOWER-GARDENS 

When one thinks of the best, one often uses in 
connection with it the word flower, as the flower 
of manhood, the flower of the army, the flower of 
youth. Perhaps something of the same idea is 
present when one thinks of the most charming 
part of a plant. Many delightful books have been 
written about flower-gardens, and it would seem 
that the designing of such gardens ought to be a 
profession by itself. There might be designers for 
different kinds of gardens, one making a specialty 
of formal gardens, another of bog-gardens, and so 
on through the list, including gardens of special 
flowers like roses, peonies, chrysanthemums, and 



1 54 LANDSCAPE-GARDENING 

iris ; or special colors, as blue and white, or blue and 
yellow ; or special localities, as alpine gardens and 
rock-gardens ; or special positions, as wall-gardens 
and terrace-gardens ; or of a special time of the year, 
as a spring-garden or winter-garden. As there are 
books treating of almost every kind of garden and 
giving details of kinds of flowers and methods of 
cultivation, the flower-garden here will be considered 
only in its relations to other features of the home 
grounds. 

While there should be flowers in the front yard, 
the flower-garden proper, devoted entirely to the 
raising of plants which are conspicuous or note- 
worthy for their bloom, should occupy a somewhat 
less commanding position. It might perhaps be 
seen with advantage from the end of a terrace or 
veranda or from one of the rooms of the house, but 
when the grounds have sufflcient size, the flower- 
garden should be subordinate to the front yard. 
Sometimes it might with advantage be separated 
entirely from the house and reached only by a 
path which could be made an interesting feature 
by covering it with vines carried on suitable sup- 
ports or bordering it with special plants. A flower- 
garden may be planned as an attractive feature in 



HOME GROUNDS 155 

itself to be seen out-doors, or it may be for the 
purpose of raising cut-flowers for table or house 
decoration. It is well if it can become the pet or 
hobby of one of the members of the household. One 
may make a specialty of hardy chrysanthemums, 
of peonies, gladioli and dahlias or wild flowers. 
Ordinarily a flower-garden will be near the vege- 
table-garden for convenience in cultivation, the 
two being taken care of by the same men. With 
limited ground, the stable and chicken yard, if these 
exist, will not be far away. There may be a separate 
garden for roses. This should be reached con- 
veniently from the house, but as it has 'much bare 
ground and is for cut-flowers mainly, it should 
not form a prominent feature of the landscape. Wild- 
gardens, being usually a natural arrangement of 
native flowers with graceful lines and cloud-like 
shapes, may very properly appear here and there 
in the front yard. They may Intermingle with the 
shrubbery or cover the ground under trees or fill 
a meadow-like area. If the home grounds are 
large enough for woods, the wild flower-garden 
may be in a natural opening In these woods or may 
indeed pervade their whole extent, forming a beauti- 
ful ground cover, especially In early spring. 



156 LANDSCAPE-GARDENING 

Happily, in designing flower-gardens and other 
landscape work, there is more freedom than exists 
in architecture, and one may take advantage of any 
charming feature pertaining to the lands selected 
for a home. Some persons believe that because 
one builds an Italian house, there should be an 
Italian garden, forgetting the dissimilarity of cli- 
mate, soil, and topography, and the impossibility 
of raising cypresses and other plants found in the 
formal gardens of Italy, or even plants resembling 
them. There is more reason for imitating a co- 
lonial garden, because the climate and soil in this 
country now are substantially the same that they 
were one or two hundred years ago. There is a 
fascination in the flowers that our grandmothers 
raised, aside from their intrinsic beauty. Still there 
have been changes which would naturally lead to 
variation in gardens and home grounds. When the 
country was new, it was nearly all covered with 
woods, and an opening covered partly with a vel- 
vety lawn and planted with the flowers that had 
been brought from England, Holland, France, Ger- 
many, and Sweden seemed the most attractive of 
home surroundings. Now that the woods have 
largely disappeared from those regions where there 



HOME GROUNDS 157 

is most home building, the native growth is more 
appreciated. Nothing in nature is more charm- 
ing than woods, delightful for children to visit and 
interesting even to older people. One should have 
this charm in intimate relationship with one's home, 
having woods when possible as a boundary of the 
front yard, or a background for the flower-garden. 
A copse or spur from the edge of woods might even 
extend toward the house to separate the front yard 
from the garden, and lengthwise through the center 
of this copse a path might lead to the wood bound- 
ary and with an opening to the flower-garden. 

VEGETABLE-GARDENS 

In city and suburban homes, vegetable-gardens 
can very properly be introduced for two purposes : 
one, to give pleasure to owners who might take de- 
light in seeing lettuce, strawberries, peas, parsley, 
onions, beets, carrots, and other vegetables growing, 
just as they would in looking at a flower-garden ; 
the other, the pleasure of having fresh vegetables 
which are far better than those which have lain in a 
grocery one or two days. Vegetables which are 
purchased are usually far cheaper than those which 
are raised, but they are not as good unless they can 



1 58 LANDSCAPE-GARDENING 

be bought directly from a gardener within an hour or 
two of the time they are gathered. If one takes care 
of his own garden, there would be compensation in 
the exercise and good health. One would also have 
the keen and justifiable satisfaction that comes from 
producing or raising things with one's own hands. 

There are advantages in having the vegetables 
and flower-gardens near each other. The barn and 
chicken-house may be close at hand, but preferably 
not seen from the house. This will make it conven- 
ient for supplying the gardens with manure and 
other fertilizers, and tools can be kept in one of the 
buildings. Fruit-trees and small-fruits can be raised 
in connection with the garden. Fruit-trees and 
nut-trees are beautiful and may sometimes be com- 
bined with other trees to give a picturesque effect ; 
or if the grounds are small, two or three apple or 
nut-trees might be all that would be needed for 
shade. Raspberries, on account of the color of the 
bark, are sometimes used for winter decoration 
the same as red-branched dogwoods or Carolina 
roses. Even vegetables may sometimes be em- 
ployed for decoration, especially in very small places 
where the entire ground might be devoted to vege- 
tables and flowers. 



HOME GROUNDS 



TERR-ACES 



159 



It has sometimes been stated that the archi- 
tectural lines of the house should be carried out a 
certain distance by the straight lines of terraces, 
balustrades, and trimmed hedges. A terrace is 
really a part of a house and should be designed and 
built by the architect. If, however, the landscape- 
gardener is called into consultation with the owner 
and architect, as he should be, there are several 
questions to be considered : (a) Will the terrace 
be useful and serve a purpose which would not be 
cared for equally well by the ground ? (b) Will 
the terrace cut off a view of a valley, hillside, or 
other attractive feature of the landscape as seen 
from the windows of the room or rooms facing the 
proposed terrace ^ (c) Will a terrace improve the 
appearance of the house as seen from the usual 
viewpoints ^ 

(a) The usefulness of a terrace will depend some- 
what on the climate, the time of day it would be 
frequented, the side of the house on which it is 
placed, and the habits of the family. Normally a 
terrace is a place to walk or sit in the open air. It 
is an outdoor extension of the rooms facing on it, 



i6o LANDSCAPE-GARDENING 

and so would be useful when there are large gather- 
ings. It may serve also as a place on which to 
exhibit special plants, generally those which are not 
hardy and must be kept in a greenhouse or a con- 
servatory during the winter. A terrace is usually 
a favorable spot from which to observe the land- 
scape and, if it were shaded from the afternoon 
sun, might in summer serve all the purposes of a 
living-room. If a house is located upon a side hill 
a terrace may very properly be carried out from the 
end of the building when its length is parallel to the 
contours of the hill. In this situation a terrace 
would give room for comfortable circulation which 
would not be provided by the ground itself. When, 
however, the ground is nearly level and the house 
is set low, there may be no occasion for building 
any terrace. 

(b) If the house is on a side hill and located as 
suggested in (a), a terrace at its side would very 
likely cut off the view of the valley below, which 
would be of far more interest than the terrace itself 
to the persons looking from the windows. 

(c) Occasionally a terrace may give to a house 
better proportions. Care should be taken, however, 
to avoid cutting off a view of the house as seen from 



HOME GROUNDS i6i 

a point far below. When a terrace would obstruct 
a view of the valley as seen from the dwelling, It 
would also cut off a portion of the house when seen 
from the valley. A broad terrace often gives to a 
house the appearance of standing on depressed 
land when the viewpoint is below the level of the 
terrace. 

HEDGES 

Trimmed hedges are not as pleasing in appear- 
ance as those having natural outlines, but sometimes 
they are necessary, as an untrimmed hedge would 
become too high. If the plants used for a hedge 
have interesting blossoms or fruit, these are usu- 
ally cut off or prevented from developing when the 
hedge is trimmed. In some instances, it Is allow- 
able for a trimmed hedge to take the place of a 
balustrade. 

HOUSE SURROUNDINGS 

The fear that some persons have of bringing 
natural beauty, that Is, the beauty of untrimmed 
trees and bushes, of natural slopes, ravines, streams, 
and lakes, near a house, would seem to be ground- 
less, since there can be no more objection to having 
a window-frame Inclose a beautiful picture which 



i62 LANDSCAPE-GARDENING 

the objects named would make, than there is to 
having a similar picture hung on the wall of a room. 
It is often possible to improve the appearance of a 
house as it is seen from a distance by planting so 
as to correct its proportions, soften its lines or hide 
those parts which ought not to be seen. There is 
hardly any building so beautiful that it cannot be 
improved by planting so as to leave something to 
the imagination. 

WOODS 

In what has already been said regarding home 
grounds, some mention has been made of woods, 
but this feature has not been emphasized suffi- 
ciently. On city lots and grounds of moderate 
size in any location, it will hardly be possible to 
have a bit of forest, since the open sky with sun- 
shine is more valuable than a collection of trees, 
but even in such locations a thicket which has most 
of the characteristics of woods on a small scale 
might be introduced. 

To illustrate, a lot having a width of one hundred 
feet, or perhaps less, might have in one corner a 
thicket with red-buds at the back, then hawthorns 
and perhaps a black haw or an elderberry (Fig. 32). 



HOME GROUNDS 



163 



Underneath this the leaves might be allowed to 
remain and protect wild flowers, like anemones, 
erythronlums, trilliums, and bloodroots. A thicket 
of this kind would, for the most part, take care of 







Fig. 32. — The Winter Landscape. A view from a library window looking 
into woods which might extend indefinitely, but in reality are not over one 
hundred feet in depth. 



TA ■ barberry^ 



f/iDarberry^ i _/r-i 



Sarhem 




Fig. 33. — The Layout of a Private Place. With Figs. 34 to 40, it illus- 
trates the development of a place of medium size. Lot is 100 feet wide by 
approximately 300 feet in length and lies between a street and Rock River 
at Dixon, Illinois. 



HOME GROUNDS 



165 



itself, and with grounds of larger size the thicket 
might be extended into a respectable forest through 
which paths might lead to interesting objects. 
America is rich in species of trees and shrubs and 




Fig. 34. — In the Beginning. View from "D" on plan (Fig. 33), loolcing 
toward river, 1909. 

also in native flowers, and one who is developing an 
American home ought certainly to make use of some 
of the material close at hand, and thus develop a 
restful retreat which might with propriety be called 
"an American garden." (Figs. 33 to 40,) 




Fig. 35. — To Start with. View from "C" on plan shown in Fig. 33, look- 
ing toward street at time lot was purchased, 1909. 




Fig. 36. — Tiii; House in thl Landscape. View showing relation of house 

to river. 



HOME GROUNDS 



167 







■ i..^-:- t ■ : -ii 



Fig. 37. — An Unimproved Part of the Landscape. Valley used for po- 
tatoes in 191 1. Natural growth of trees and bushes on bank preserved. 




Fig. 38. — The Building Stage. View of house just after completion in 
Fall of 1914. Elm tree preserved. 



i68 



LANDSCAPE-GARDENING 




YiG. 39. — The Effect of Planting. House as seen from island in river. 
Note elm shown in second photograph. 



HOME GROUNDS 



169 



A retreat of this kind will give its owner and his 
friends endless diversion and entertainment. It will 
also increase his interest in all that vegetation which 
comes of itself along roadsides, margins of woods and 




Fig. 40. — The Offscape. View from house to Rock River. 

Streams and other out-of-the-way places. It is this 
awakening of our senses to the beauty that exists 
wherever nature is given an opportunity to show her 
charms that will add zest to life, give individuaHty 
to one's home, and a value to grounds far beyond 
that which they may have in money. 



CHAPTER IX 

Farms 

The importance of farms in the life of the country 

entitles them to a separate chapter, even though 

they are usually but one variety of home grounds. 

Farms might be thought of as the cradle of the 

nation. The farms do more for the cities than to 

furnish them food. They supply people for the cities 

as well. Since the average city family does not last 

through more than three or four generations, the 

population of a city must be replenished continually 

from the country. On this account, not only does 

the food supply of the nation depend on the farms 

but also its stability and character to a very large 

degree. The most influential citizens usually live 

in cities, but they or their antecedents came from 

the country. Our strong men owe their strength and 

ruggedness of character to the farms from which 

they sprang, and to these farms they often wish to 

return in their old age. 

170 



FARMS 171 

These facts have been mentioned to show the im- 
portance of the farm life in that of the nation as a 
whole, and the great benefit that may result from 
any improvement in the appearance, comfort and 
convenience of this feature of national life. It is 
very important, therefore, to consider the farm 
from a landscape-gardening point of view. With 
the good roads that are developing and with auto- 
mobiles, auto-trucks and telephones, the social status 
of the farm will be greatly improved. Indeed the 
farmer, living where he can have good air to breathe 
and beautiful scenery to look at, may become the 
aristocrat (using the word in its best sense) ^ of 
the future. 

Some of the questions to be considered on the farm 
and matters that will bring about improved condi- 
tions are here briefly discussed. 

Where should the house be placed ? The answer 
would be based on three considerations, namely, con- 
venience, comfort, and appearance. For conven- 
ience, a house should sometimes be situated near the 
highway, but this is not always true. There are 
cases in which a more central location is desirable 

^ " Aristocrats are everywhere, they may have titles or they may have none. 
They are those who think they owe their best to God and men and they serve." 

Price Collier. 



172 LANDSCAPE-GARDENING 

on account of the ease with which different parts 
of the farm may be reached from it. This would 
often be true of a dairy farm where the cows during 
a series.of years would go from the barn, which would 
be conveniently near the house, to every field for 
pasture. A central location requires only short lanes 
to different fields and would save time in hauling 
hay and other crops to the storage place. The loca- 
tion of the water supply would have a bearing on 
the decision as to the building site. 

The demands of comfort call for protection from 
cold winds in winter, the benefit of cooling breezes 
in summer, and sometimes more seclusion than ac- 
companies a location near the highway. The shade 
of trees is also desirable to mitigate the heat of July 
and August. The site should have good drainage 
for air as well as for water. 

For appearance, the site of the house should usually 
be on relatively high land. It should command 
good views and be favorably situated with regard 
to existing trees or other growth of value. On the 
farm a house can usually be placed without much re- 
gard to the street or boundary lines, that is, the im- 
portant room or rooms can face a favorable breeze 
or view. 



FARMS 173 

What planting should be done ? If there are no 
trees about the site which is otherwise favorable for 
the house, trees can be planted. The list from which 
to choose would include all native forest trees as well 
as those introduced from other countries. Nut- 
and fruit-trees as well as the usual ornamental sub- 
jects are quite appropriate for planting about a group 
of farm buildings. 

Before considering the planting, a plan for the 
various farm buildings should be made in which 
these are placed conveniently and picturesquely 
with regard to each other. The barn and other 
structures should be near the house for convenience, 
yet far enough away so that the noise of the animals 
and fowls will not be disturbing. The house should 
occupy a commanding position with regard to the 
other buildings and the farm itself. Care should 
be taken to place the barn, the chicken-house and 
other equipment where they will not cut off from 
the house a desirable breeze or view. When the 
buildings have been planned with regard to each 
other and also with due reference to farm operations, 
a planting scheme can be made. The suggestions 
in the preceding chapter are just as applicable to a 
farmer's home as to a city or suburban home. The 



174 LANDSCAPE-GARDENING 

object in planting should always be to make the sur- 
roundings beautiful. The farmer and his family 
need a "front yard," a piece of ground covered with 
restful turf and surrounded with trees far enough 
apart to give views of the surrounding country. A 
farmer's wife and daughters will receive as much 
enjoyment from a rose-garden or an old-fashioned 
flower-garden as would their city cousins. The 
barn-yard, the flower-garden, the chicken yard, the 
clothes yard, and other features may be separated 
from each other by lilacs and other old-fashioned 
shrubs. Evergreens also may be planted, perhaps 
more than will ultimately be needed, the surplus 
being either sold or used from time to time as 
Christmas trees. 

An up-to-date farm will have a good supply of 
water under pressure and a little of this should be 
used for a bird-bath, or preferably for several such 
baths, which can be placed near trees or bushes 
where the birds can preen their feathers. 

The re-stating of a few rules for planting will be 
in place here : 

(i) Arrange the planting so that an ample 
supply of sunshine will reach the windows of the 
house. 



FARMS 175 

(2) Plant so that the other buildings will be at 
least partially hidden from the house. 

(3) Arrange the trees so that the best views will 
be preserved and framed. 

(4) Plant trees and shrubs that are pleasing in 
themselves on account of their branches, blossoms, 
foliage or fruits and arrange them in irregular, grace- 
ful, harmonious groups. 

(5) Plant shrubs to make a setting for the house. 
The shrubs selected will depend on the height of 
the window sills, the exposure, — that is whether 
on the east, west, north or south side of the house, 
— and the personal taste of those responsible for 

the plan. 

(6) Introduce hardy perennials where they will 
have a good background and will thrive, but do not 
put flowers in the central part of the front yard. 

(7) Do not plant deeper than plants stood in the 
place from which they were moved. This applies 
especially to' trees and shrubs. 

(8) Cultivate newly planted material as one would 
a vegetable-garden from May to the last of August. 

(9) If water becomes necessary, use water copiously 
so the ground will be soaked and then omit watering 
for one or two weeks. Rake or hoe the surface of 



176 LANDSCAPE-GARDENING 

the ground that has been watered as soon as it 
dries. 

(10) Plant evergreens in cloudy or drizzly weather. 
Evergreen roots should never be exposed to sunlight. 

(11) Plants received from a nursery should be 
put in the ground as soon as possible after they are 
received. If they cannot be placed permanently 
when they arrive, heel them in for a few days. 

(12) Learn to see beauty during all seasons of 
the year in the things that are planted. 

(13) Mulching will protect fall planting and will 
serve partially as a substitute for cultivation. 

(14) After trees and shrubs become established, 
do very little trimming, cutting only dead branches 
and those which interfere with walks or drives. Cut 
such branches at their junction with the trunk or 
with a larger branch. 

THE FARM FOREST 

The question will arise as to whether the farm 
should have a wood-lot and if so what it should con- 
tain and where it should be located. Foresters will 
reply that every farm should have a wood-lot for 
the wood and lumber that it will furnish. They 
will state that a wood-lot will often save a trip to 



FARMS 



177 



town for a stick of tim- 
ber, and will often make 
the farmer independent 
of coal strikes. Even 
though coal is obtain- 
able, a fire-place for 
wood makes a house 
cheerful and every 
farmer should have one 
and cut a supply cf 
wood for it from his 
own land. In the re- 
gions of hilly land, as 
New York and New 
England, the wood-lot 
is a natural part of the 
farm. 

A wood-lot is a desir- 
able feature for the 
farm from the point of 
view of a landscape- 
gardener even more 
than from that of a 
forester (Fig. 41). An 
area of woods helps to 




178 LANDSCAPE-GARDENING 

vary the sky-line and make it interesting and 
beautiful. The woods themselves are charming 
at all seasons of the year. The beauty of the 
country usually includes that of many farms, and 
the various wood-lots belonging to different owners 
frame in the distant views to be seen from any house. 
Study the effect of areas of woods from car windows 
and think how monotonous would be the appearance 
of the country if these woods were removed. Note 
at the edge of a pasture a single great elm or a group 
of oaks underneath whose branches cows are resting 
during the heat of a summer day, a picture of com- 
fort and utility as well as beauty. 

That farmer is most fortunate who has a bit of 
original forest on his land ; an area that has never 
been cleared and contains a variety of growth. Com- 
pare such an area in New York or Ohio with a prairie 
tree-claim where the tree plantation is made up en- 
tirely of soft maples or box elders. In the former, 
there will be sugar maples, beeches, oaks, sycamores, 
black walnuts, butternuts, lindens, ashes, tulip trees, 
hickories, elms, hawthorns, crab-apples, red-buds, 
dogwoods, sassafras and many others, a combination 
that gives interest to life, while the latter area covered 
with one short-lived tree has a deadly monotony. 



FARMS 179 

In selecting trees for a wood-lot that must be 
planted, one should use many kinds, endeavoring 
to reproduce as far as possible all the interesting 
features of the natural forest, not forgetting the 
wild flowers. The entire lives of farmers' sons and 
daughters will be enriched and made happier if 
they have an acquaintance with the native growth 
that has been suggested above and with the birds 
and animals that would take refuge in this growth. 

While called a "wood-lot," it need not be a square 
or regular shaped area. It might stretch along a 
highway to which it will add comfort and attractive- 
ness as well as to that of the farm. It might cover 
a hill-side or any irregular ground that is not espe- 
cially adapted to cultivation, or it might extend 
along the borders of a stream or lake. 

A variety of trees has been recommended, but 
this does not mean that in suitable places there should 
not be groves of nut-trees or sugar maples for the 
production of a valuable crop. One of the delights 
of a farm should be the gathering of nuts or the 
making of sugar. 

Ordinarily a wood-lot should not be pastured. 
Pasturing destroys the undergrowth and allows the 
wind to dry out the ground so that the trees them- 



i8o LANDSCAPE-GARDENING 

selves gradually die. An exception might be made 
to this rule when there is low land along streams, 
lands subject to frequent overflow and so unsuitable 
for plowing. Such soil is usually rich and moist and 
well adapted for pasture. To have scattering tall 
trees upon this land with a few low-growing haw- 
thorns would not diminish materially its value as a 
pasture and would make it beautiful. The foliage 
of hawthorns is eaten to some extent by cattle, but 
these trees protect themselves sufficiently by their 
thorns to enable them to increase gradually in size. 
They not only protect themselves but they frequently 
protect a bed of adder-tongues, bloodroots, trilliums, 
hepaticas or anemones underneath their branches. 

In situations like that described in the above para- 
graph, care should be taken to protect the banks of 
the stream from erosion and at the same time allow 
the cattle to have a liberal and convenient supply 
of water. The growth of trees and bushes along 
concave banks should be protected by fencing. 
There will usually be some low sloping borders of 
the stream where cattle may enter it without 
harm. 

In starting a forest or wood-lot, small trees should 
be chosen. Often it is best to plant year-old seed- 



FARMS 



i8r 



lings and sometimes acorns or nuts. Trees grow 
faster than one thinks, and, with a multitude of 
small trees placed not very far apart, a forest soon 
develops. The advantages of this method are that 
all the ground is occupied from the start and all is 
covered with a mulching of leaves in the autumn 
which will enrich the land. With such a plantation 
of small trees, the strongest get the start so that the 
future forest of large trees will be made up of healthy 
strong individuals. Such a forest is also beautiful 
from the beginning. The trees, to a large extent, 
take care of each other so that the farmer need give 
them but little attention. Squirrels and other ani- 
mals would dig for acorns and nuts, so it is often an 
advantage to plant year-old seedlings. 

In addition to planting about the house and other 
buildings and the wood-lot, the farm has other fea- 
tures that will count in the landscape. Usually, 
the more or less undulating fields are beautiful. 
There is beauty in the bare ground, finely pulverized 
and well prepared to receive the seed for the next 
crop; in the young green blades, when first seen 
against the dark earth, and later, when the grown 
crop waves in the wind, it has something of the charm 
of a large body of water. The mere mention of 



i82 LANDSCAPE-GARDENING 

wheat, rye, corn, clover, alfalfa and other crops 
brings to mind something pleasing to look at. 

THE FARM ORCHARD AND OTHER FEATURES 

Orchards are noted for their beauty, and though 
they are attractive at all seasons, they are especially 
handsome when in bloom or when full of fruit. Small- 
fruits, blackberries, raspberries, currants, goose- 
berries and strawberries, are often most attractive 
in appearance. ^ 

Also, a farm may have springs surrounded by 
charming wild growth, creeks, ponds, and lakes. 
Here and there about a farm there may be individual 
trees or groups of trees. Every farmer's boy and 
girl should learn to swim, skate, row, and paddle, 
either by taking advantage of some body of water 
connected with their own farm or that of a neighbor, 
or by going to a township or a county park. 

Important though the beauty of the farm may be, 
there is something of still greater importance, and 
that is that the farmer and his family shall see and 
appreciate this beauty. If they can do this, they 
are of all persons the most fortunate. Other men 
and women work in their offices, their shops, their 
factories and their kitchens all their lives until their 



FARMS 183 

declining years, when they are Hkely to seek a home 
in the country so that they can spend the few remain- 
ing years in enjoyment. The farmer can spend not 
only his declining years but his entire life in enjoying 
nature. He can always have the trees, bushes and 
many of the other interesting features that have 
been named. 

When a farmer sees none of the beauty of the 
country ; when he looks on his life as one of drudgery ; 
when he seeks merely to earn dollars and compares 
his often meager income with that of wealthy men in 
the city ; his declining years are likely to arrive too 
early in life. He may be old when he has reached 
the age of forty or fifty. When he sees the beauty 
of nature ; when he realizes the comfort that he en- 
joys, the satisfaction of breathing pure air, of having 
freedom beyond that of most men, the pleasure of 
listening to the songs of birds, looking at the ex- 
panse of sky, the beauty of woodlands, of sunrises 
and sunsets ; when he takes a philosophical view 
of life ; when he solves the various farm problems 
with intelligence and wise foresight ; his declining 
years may be postponed far beyond those of the 
average man. With the ideal farmer's life, such 
years may never be reached. 



i84 LANDSCAPE-GARDENING 

The beauty of the farm, the farm which is the 
foundation of our prosperity and most of our happi- 
ness, leads to that love of country which is true 
patriotism. 



CHAPTER X 

Landscape-Gardening for Arid and 
Semi-Arid Regions 

Since writing the previous chapters, the follow- 
ing communication, which will serve as a text for 
the present one, has been received from the Editor 
of the Rural Science Series: 

"I was standing in the ofBce of one of the educa- 
tional institutions of a western state looking out 
at the bare bald hills. A woman in the office who 
had recently been East, remarked to me that in the 
part of the country she visited all the hills were 
spoiled by the forests. She said it was a relief to 
get back to the West where the hills stood out by 
themselves, and she could see all the outlines and 
all the shadows and not have them covered by a mere 
growth of trees. This raises a very important ques- 
tion for half of the geographical area of our country. 
What is to be the type of landscape-gardening in the 
great treeless or semi-arid West where millions of 

i8s 



1 86 LANDSCAPE-GARDENING 

people are going to live ? About their homes they 
will have a little irrigated patch perhaps, but the 
landscape must be a natural one in all the regions 
beyond. In many parts of the country they will 
not even have irrigation about their homes, as they 
practice dry-farming, which is the process of getting 
one crop in two years or two crops in three years by 
such methods of tillage as will save all the rainfall 
and make use of the moister parts of the year 
for getting their crops started. From the point 
of view of the old landscape-gardening these areas 
seem to be hopeless ; yet, numbers of persons must 
live in these regions and there ought to be some way 
whereby the artist can develop for them a new type 
of satisfaction. All our artistic conceptions of land- 
scape-gardening seem to be drawn from humid coun- 
tries, as, indeed, our common agriculture Is so drawn ; 
but more than half of the land surface of the earth 
receives a rainfall of less than twenty inches and has 
a set of problems of its own. I often wonder what 
would be the character of our landscape art if it had 
been developed first in a semi-arid country." 

What can a landscape-gardener do for a treeless 
region ? While he can sometimes improve appear- 
ances by grading or by using rocks in an artistic way, 



ARID AND SEMI-ARID REGIONS 187 

his work, to a very large extent, is connected with 
the growth of vegetation. Ordinarily, he needs trees 
for shade, for sky-lines and for beauty of foliage, 
branches, flowers and fruit. He needs shrubs and 
herbaceous plants for their beauty and to cover the 
ground, since it is his ideal to have all ground occupied 
with growing plants excepting that taken by roads, 
walks, bowlders, and protruding rock. Where plants 
are lacking, what can be done to make a home com- 
fortable and beautiful ? 

There is hardly any locality that need be entirely 
destitute of plants, even though these may be only 
cacti, yuccas, and sage-brush. The outlines of build- 
ings as silhouetted against the sky are always impor- 
tant, but are of special significance in a treeless re- 
gion. Usually, buildings in such a region should be 
broad and low. In arranging buildings for comfort, 
the prevailing winds and the climate should be stud- 
ied in the western states just as in the East. In 
arranging a home in New Mexico or Arizona, which 
are typical arid states, the points to be considered 
might be enumerated as follows : — 

I. Views. 

Large areas in New Mexico and Arizona com- 
mand attractive mountain views. There are also 



1 88 LANDSCAPE-GARDENING 

beautifully colored rocks, of all shapes and sizes 
and, apparently, of endless extent. There are often 
rolling surfaces supporting at least a slight vege- 
tation, although, to eastern eyes, large areas in 
these western states seem to be worthless barren 
wastes. There are persons who delight in the color 
eflfects and the immense distances in this region. 
Houses here, just as in wooded regions, would be 
placed so that the rooms habitually occupied would 
command the best views. 

2. Breeze. 

Advantage would be taken of prevailing winds 
to secure the greatest amount of comfort by placing 
homes so they will be protected from cold and disagree- 
able winds, by hills, and also have the advantage of 
the breezes that add to one's pleasure in summer. 

3. Elevation. 

Even though it may be unnecessary to take any 
precautions with regard to drainage, high land would 
naturally be chosen as a site for a house for the sake 
of air and a commanding view of the surrounding 
country. 

4. Planting. 

There should undoubtedly be some planting. 
There must be water to drink and for cooking, to 



ARID AND SEMI-ARID REGIONS 189 

say nothing of bathing, and with water for these 
purposes enough could probably be obtained for 
house plants and vines. There should also be a 
vegetable-garden, and to conserve moisture for this 
a surrounding growth of bushes would be advanta- 
geous. Experiments have shown that even a slight 
breeze doubles the evaporation from the ground and 
a strong wind has a marked effect. Bushes, there- 
fore, by checking the wind, help to keep the garden 
moist so that vegetables, which are important for 
food, can be grown. The surrounding bushes can 
be varied in outline, especially along the outer mar- 
gin, thus making an interesting detail in landscape. 
It may not be feasible in an arid region to have many 
trees, but a single specimen, perhaps a pine or a red 
cedar like those one sees from trains in passing through 
New Mexico, can usually be so placed with reference 
to the house as to make a picture for one to look at 
when approaching the home. Such a tree will also 
give shade and make the view from a house more 
interesting. 

The problem for a landscape-gardener in any loca- 
tion is to make the most of the available materials. 
It is wise always to work in harmony with what 
nature has done in the surrounding territory. In 



I90 LANDSCAPE-GARDENING 

any locality, whether dry or moist, planting material 
should be used which is indigenous to the region or 
which grows in some other locality having a similar 
soil and climate. In dry sections, as has already 
been suggested, use can be made of several species 
of shrubs generally known as sage-brush, although 
in many cases this is not a correct appellation. In 
some dry localities, a cactus garden perhaps in com- 
bination with rocks would be appropriate and in- 
teresting. There are also numerous herbaceous 
plants which come into bloom even in our so-called 
desert at certain seasons of the year and which are 
exceedingly interesting. These can be used about 
one's home as a ground cover and are often attrac- 
tive even when dry. They do not always make a 
suitable carpet to walk on, but paths along the 
routes usually traveled may be made with stepping 
stones, gravel or any other suitable material that 
may be available. 

It is unwise to attempt to change Colorado or 
Arizona to give them the appearance of Ohio or 
Georgia, but much can be done to make the homes 
in these and other western states attractive. The 
writer has been to western towns when they were 
entirely destitute of trees and seemed to him most 



ARID AND SEMI-ARID REGIONS 191 

forlorn and ugly in appearance. After a lapse of 
several years, he has again seen these towns con- 
taining a growth of shade trees, bushes and flowers. 
This is an indication of what can be done if there 
is an inclination to improve appearances. Here as 
elsewhere the important thing for the landscape- 
gardener to do is to teach persons to see and ap- 
preciate natural beauty. He should also point out 
the attractive local features, designating how these 
can be taken advantage of or improved, and stimulate 
that action on the part of the inhabitants which 
will give them a feeling of satisfaction and pride in 
their surroundings. It is certainly a satisfactory 
state of affairs when each one can think his own 
locality the best one in the world in which to live. 
Let the western woman continue to admire the 
bare plains and mountains which to eastern eyes 
often seem dreary and forbidding, but point out to 
her how touches of growth here and there near her 
house may enhance the mountain view and make 
her immediate surroundings home-like and attractive. 



CHAPTER XI 

Public Thoroughfares 

A STATEMENT was made at the beginning of this 
book that its purpose is to help make the country 
more beautiful. To accomplish this result, nothing 
will contribute more than the improvement of the 
Condition and appearance of public thoroughfares. 
It is from these thoroughfares or highways that one 
sees the beauty of cities, villages, farms, parks, lakes, 
rivers and woods, as well as that of the highway 
itself. With the improved physical condition of the 
roads, the country itself will become more beauti- 
ful, because farmers will be more prosperous and 
so better able to have attractive homes and farms. 
They will become more appreciative of their sur- 
roundings, more reluctant to have disreputable- 
looking barn-yards or slovenly house surroundings 
and more anxious to own grounds and farms 
which the increased number of passers-by will 

admire. 

192 



PUBLIC THOROUGHFARES 193 

It is unfortunate that in locating highways better 
judgment was not exercised. While our system of 
dividing land into sections one mile square and frac- 
tions of sections is admirable for describing land 
areas, the location of roads on the boundaries of 
these sections Is often a mistake from a practical as 
well as an aesthetic point of view. Many farmers, 
on account of section line roads which often go up 
hill and down, have had to lift all the produce hauled 
to market many feet unnecessarily and travel many 
miles farther than would have been the case had the 
roads been laid out wisely. Some of the mistakes 
can perhaps be corrected in the building of state 
roads. ^ 

Curved highways, while in most cases shorten- 
ing the distance to be traveled, and allowing roads 
on easy grades to be constructed -economically, have 
the additional merit not only of looking better than 

1 A. R. Hirst, State Highway Engineer of Wisconsin, in his Presidential 
address at the fifth annual meeting of the American Association of State High- 
way Officials at Louisville, Ky., December, 19 19, states, as reported in "Good 
Roads," that the value of a mile in highway distance saved where there are 
only one hundred vehicles a day would be ^3650.00, which, capitalized at five 
per cent, would be $73,000.00. If there were two hundred and fifty vehicles, 
the saving a mile on the same basis would be $182,500.00. It is not at all 
uncommon for a thoroughfare entering one of our larger cities to accommodate 
one thousand vehicles or more. For a mile saved on such a thoroughfare the 
gain would be $730,000.00 or more. With this inducement for making "short 
cuts," it seems probable that many roads will be changed. 
O 



194 LANDSCAPE-GARDENING 

straight roads, but also of giving the country as a 
whole a better appearance. In England, which is 
usually considered the most beautiful country of its 
size in the world, nearly all the roads are curved. 
The beauty of New England is due largely to its 
curved roads which were made before the United 
States section laws were adopted. Look at any one 
of the older roads which was used in advance of the 
government survey and see how much better it fits 
the ground and how much better looking it is than 
the more modern straight highway. As a city 
develops, some of these original thoroughfares, 
mere trails at first, usually become its leading 
arteries. 

Even with straight highways laid out with the 
customary width of sixty-six feet, there is a chance 
for much variation from a straight line in the road 
which usually requires only sixteen feet, and it is 
interesting to see how the lines of travel in unpaved 
roads are frequently on long graceful curves, per- 
haps to avoid a valley, the steep part of a hill, or 
a group of trees or bushes. In many cases it would 
be wise for the highway commissioners, when they 
put in concrete, macadam, or brick for a permanent 
roadway, to follow the easy graceful lines of travel. 



PUBLIC THOROUGHFARES 195 

Often there would be a gain in economy as well as 
in beauty by so doing. 

The importance of having good drainage, easy 
grades and solid road-beds is becoming well under- 
stood by highway engineers, so no space will be given 
to these matters here. Where grades change, how- 
ever, some engineers are inclined to make this change 






1 

,, I , „\ , „,,,,ll>l>IJ »lli»l»ill> 






Fig. 42. — Profile of Road. The upper profile indicates the character of 
grades not unusual In cities with long straight sections connected by compara- 
tively short curves. The lower profile is a continuous curve which gives 
a more satisfactory appearance. 

too abruptly, so that the road profile appears angular 
instead of curved as it should (Fig. 42). 

At the road intersections, when for some reason 
the center lines do not meet, there is an opportunity 
frequently to use curves to advantage so that there 
will be a continuous roadway without jogs (Fig. 43). 
In cities with paved streets and curbs, the radius of 
curvature of the curb at corners should be long enough 
so that an automobile can follow the curb closely in 
turning to the cross street. A radius of at least 



196 



LANDSCAPE-GARDENING 



twenty feet would be required. This may seem to 
be a matter connected with engineering rather than 
landscape-gardening, but the landscape-gardener is 
concerned with the appearance of the street as a 
whole and if it does not fit its purpose, and is not 





Fig. 43. — The Crossing. This shows in full lines an actual street inter- 
section where roads do not meet, a dangerous arrangement causing conges- 
tion. Dotted lines with curves having long radii of curvature show a better 
arrangement. 

comfortable to use, it will not have a good appear- 
ance. 

The walk or path along the side of a highway 
should have the same freedom that is here advocated 
for roadways. Sometimes, in the country, a path 



PUBLIC THOROUGHFARES 197 

will not be required along the highway, but when 
it is needed, it should, in most places, be separated 
from the road by a planted strip of land. The loca- 
tion of the path may be anywhere between the land 
required for vehicles and the property line. Its 
grade may be above or below that of the road, pro- 
vided it is well drained and that it is not crossed by 
a private drive. For example, if the highway passes 
along the side of a hill and the foot-path is on the 
side toward the foot of the hill, its grade may with 
comfort and safety be lower than that of the road- 
bed upon which vehicles travel, while the path on 
the opposite side could be above the road grade, pro- 
vided always that these paths have profiles that are 
not too steep. When roads and paths or walks have 
been constructed with proper lines and grades, plant- 
ing should be begun. By skilfully using for planting 
that portion of highways not needed for vehicles 
or pedestrians, all thoroughfares might be made 
charming. 

Such planting has usually been left to the 
abutting property owners and, of course, has fre- 
quently been omitted altogether. If the appear- 
ance of country roads is to become what it should be, 
the supervision of the planting must be a matter for 



198 LANDSCAPE-GARDENING 

the highway officials to attend to as well as the con- 
struction of the road-bed itself, and these officials 
should include among their number, or be advised 
by, a competent landscape-gardener. In some states 
no attention whatever is given to the planting here 
advocated, while other states, like New York and 
Massachusetts, are making intelligent progress. The 
old idea of having a row of trees on each side of a 
highway, the trees in the rows being spaced at uni- 
form intervals, is giving way to the more artistic 
arrangement of groups placed in a natural way. 
These groups may contain both trees and shrubs. 
The tree growth may be that of one species or of 
several, and the same is true of the shrubs and also 
of the herbaceous material that may contribute to 
the general effect. With this freedom of arrangement, 
a wide space between groups may be left where 
there is a notable view, and again where there is no 
view the groups may be close together or contin- 
uous for a long stretch of highway. By adopting 
this method, highways might become as attractive 
as any natural road through the woods. The native 
species, or those of similar type and character, are to 
be preferred, both because they match the landscape 
and because they are hardy and dependable. 



PUBLIC THOROUGHFARES 



199 



THE HILLSIDE ROAD (FigS. 44 and 45) 

A road leads from the city out into the country, 
its general direction lying from south to southeast. 
At first it traverses comparatively level land and 



StjiU of Milts 
9 H ' 




Fig. 44. — A Hillside Road. Often difficult, but full of possibilities. 



200 LANDSCAPE-GARDENING 

then enters a valley, bounded on the east or left by 
a ridge having gradually sloping sides, and on the 
west by a rather steep bluff. The highway in ques- 
tion follows along the east side of the valley, gradually 
climbing the broad ridge. The valley is good farm- 
ing land with pasture and cultivated fields. The 
time is October. The bluff on the west side of the 
valley is covered, for the most part, with sugar maples 
which are brilliantly colored in the morning sun. 
The broad ridge which the highway is following is 
old pasture land, some of the fields being thickly 
sprinkled with hawthorns which the cattle have 
trimmed into characteristic shapes. Many of these 
have grown above the browsing line and are covered 
with red fruits. Little ravines cross the highway and 
carry surface water underneath through pipes or 
culverts. At the first point in this mind picture, 
where the drive begins to follow the ridge, the road- 
way curves slightly toward the left, and the sloping 
roadside toward the ridge is covered with Virginia 
creepers carrying red leaves and dark-bluish berries. 
Then there is a roadside covering of wild roses with 
red fruits and dark red stems. On the right, the 
valley side, is first a group of elms which shade the 
road and frame the landscape. Continuing toward 



PUBLIC THOROUGHFARES 



201 



the south Is a spreading group of hawthorns. Be- 
yond the hawthorns there is a long opening through 









L., 






.^ 



^ 



>Qi 






^^ 



/^ 



(^ 



'jI 






^<3 /Oa /i'O 



V, 







Fig. 45. — The Hillside Road. Sketch of detail of the road. 



202 LANDSCAPE-GARDENING 

which the valley is seen, at this point being about a 
mile wide. In the valley are green wheat fields in 
good condition for the coming winter. There are 
other fields containing shocks of corn, farm buildings 
nestling among groups of trees and shrubs, and pas- 
ture land with scattering herds of cattle. The open- 
ing through which these are seen is bounded along 
the roadside by a growth of wild roses and elder- 
berries, and is terminated at the south side with an 
extended group of sugar maples. After passing the 
maples, the road follows a nearly straight course 
for some distance, and then turns to the right, but 
gradually reverses, passing around a transverse ridge 
which is covered with native woods. The growth 
seen immediately in front, as one approaches this 
turn to the right, is largely composed of hemlocks 
and yellow birches. There are also touches here and 
there of red-branched dogwoods, and shortly before 
reaching the turn there is a ravine which is included 
in the woodland and separated from the pasture by 
a fence. Looking up this ravine, at the bottom of 
which there is a running stream, one can see a large 
sycamore with its white trunk. Around the base 
of the sycamore and extending up and down the 
stream are patches of Indian currants with their 



PUBLIC THOROUGHFARES 203 

wine-colored berries. One can see also along the 
sides of the ravine areas of prickly ash, elderberries 
and wild roses, and, in the distance, a winterberry 
brilliant with its scarlet fruit. This ravine, extending 
into the woods at the left, makes a delightful picture. 
The road continues around the wooded hill in which 
grow oaks, maples, birches and he^mlocks, and as it 
turns back along the southwesterly slope it passes 
an attractive farm-house occupying a commanding 
position with regard to the valley (Fig. 46). This 
house is framed by great elm trees like the noted elms 
of New England. The house itself seems to have 
every appearance of comfort. It not only commands 
most attractive views, but it receives sunshine and 
favorable breezes. The elm trees mentioned are 
along the highway and are flanked by lilacs. Be- 
yond the house, covering the foot of the hill, is an 
apple orchard which partly screens a group of farm 
buildings. After passing this scene of domestic 
comfort and thrift, the road turns to the southeast, 
skirting the southwest slope of the hill, and crosses 
another transverse valley. It continues on until 
the two sides of the valley come together, the charac- 
ter of the country remaining much like that just 
described. Here and there along the highway are 



204 



LANDSCAPE-GARDENING 



groups of various trees, sometimes a great white oak 
with an accompaniment of sumachs, sometimes a 
collection of sugar maples, then a giant black walnut, 
then a grove of bur oaks flanked with hawthorns, an 




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Fig. 46. — The Scenery en Route. Sketch of part of hillside road. 

extensive thicket of choke cherries, black haws and 
tooth-leaved viburnums. Here and there are mar- 
gins of a bit of woods containing beeches and sugar 
maples and so on until a distant village is reached. 



PUBLIC THOROUGHFARES 205 

Growing along the highway, which is often bounded 
by stone walls, are frequent thickets of hazel bushes 
Interspersed and bordered with goldenrods and asters. 
Throughout the whole extent of this country road 
there are beautiful things to look at, trees and shrubs 
In great variety, often rich In autumn coloring. The 
road-bed itself gradually ascends to the head of the 
valley on a grade never exceeding five per cent. It 
has a smooth hard surface bordered with a strip of 
land which continues the slope of the road and is 
covered with grass or other hardy low vegetation, 
and this, In turn. Is bordered perhaps on a steep bank 
by the growth described. The curves of the road 
are so easy that an automobile can move safely on 
high speed and still the beauty of the road Itself and 
the country It traverses is such that it is tempting 
to one who likes to walk and can take his time to 
enjoy scenery. While the road is always curved 
it changes its direction so gradually that approaching 
vehicles can be seen at a long distance, so that the 
element of danger is reduced to a minimum. 

This imaginary road merely gives a hint of the 
beauty of a highway which reaches out to a country 
southeast of a large city, not only of the beauty of 
the highway itself but also of the country on either 



2o6 LANDSCAPE-GARDENING 

side. It reaches the farming district along lines 
which, though curved, are reasonably direct. The 
distance along this highway to its destination is 
much shorter than two straight sides of a right angle, 
one side of which runs north and south, and the 
other east and west, Aloreover, the cost of the 
grading, construction and maintenance of the road 
outlined above would be far less than that of roads 
constructed through the same country on straight 
lines. 

THE RIVER ROAD (Fig. 47) 

A broad deep river flows southwest from another 
large city. Within the town the river is traversed 
by bridges, but in other places it can only be crossed 
by boats, so that it serves as a barrier for all vehicles 
and pedestrians. Along the left bank of this river is 
a ridge of land of which the highest part lies just 
above high water mark. Back of this ridge the land 
is relatively low so that during time of extremely high 
water it is flooded. An indigenous forest growth 
covers the ridge and its steep banks sloping toward 
the river and also the low land. Upon the ridge a 
roadway has been constructed. For a traveler along 
this roadway the woods furnish constant entertain- 
ment. From it, at frequent intervals, and occasion- 



PUBLIC THOROUGHFARES 



207 



ally for long stretches, the interesting opposite bank 
of the river is seen as well as the river itself. This 
opposite bank is steep and high, reaching in places 




Fig. 47. — A Riverside Drive. Utilizing neglected opportunities. 

an elevation of one hundred feet above the ordinary 
river level. It is likewise covered with a forest 
growth mostly of oak, but in springtime one could 
pick out here and there against the gray mass of stems 



2o8 LANDSCAPE-GARDENING 

the flowers of red-buds, juneberries, wild plums and 
dogwoods, and near the river a slight yellowish tinge 
from the blossoms of spice-bush. A little later there 
will be light pink areas from the flowers of the wild 
crab-apple and the leaves of the oaks will appear in 
various delicate tints. Sometimes there will be boats 
upon the river. The near-at-hand growth along the 
margins of the river road just mentioned is largely 
made up of lindens, elms, hackberries, soft maples, 
sycamores and hawthorns, with here and there a 
clump of willows. Underneath the hawthorns, the 
ground is covered with anemone blossoms in the 
spring and with little red apples in fall. Aside from 
the trees mentioned, there is a growth of various 
bushes including our red-branched dogwoods, elder- 
berries, spice-bushes, Carolina roses, viburnums and 
a shrub-like stand of pawpaws. In places, also, the 
ground is covered with mandrakes, adder-tongues, 
bloodroots, hepaticas, trilliums, bluebells, iris and 
ferns. This area, mostly covered with original forest 
extending for several miles along the river, has been 
converted into a public park. It is not adapted to 
ordinary cultivated crops because of the inundations 
that occur at least once a year and sometimes oftener. 
It can be imagined that this river road, with its 



PUBLIC THOROUGHFARES 209 

varied scenery, will be popular for those who wish to 
take an after-dinner ride in their automobiles during 
the long evenings of May, June and July. The words 
"river road" suggest something interesting. Our 
native forest growth is becoming every year more 
and more precious and this forest if preserved for 
one hundred years or more will be priceless in value. 

The birds that frequent the river and the woods 
will be objects of interest to those who watch for 
them. The kingfishers will be sure to be on hand 
and occasionally one will be fortunate enough to 
see a blue heron, a few ducks or other water fowl. If 
one goes into the woods and sits quietly in the eve- 
ning, one may be rewarded with a song of a wood- 
thrush and at other times in the day one may be 
fortunate enough to see robins, catbirds, orioles, 
tanagers, indigo birds, rose-breasted grosbeaks, blue- 
jays and occasionally cardinal birds. During late 
spring and early summer, whippoorwills, night hawks 
and swallows may fill the evening with sound. 

From this highway, roads branch toward the 
south. At first it was thought best to restrict the 
driving along the river road to pleasure vehicles, 
but later it was concluded to allow all the farmers 
who would use this road as the most direct route to 



2IO LANDSCAPE-GARDENING 

the city to have the benefit of the river scenery. In 
addition to the road, there is a path along the river 
side for those who wish to walk, and seats have been 
provided wherever there are favorable outlooks. At 
two places creeks pass underneath the drive, carry- 
ing their supply of water to the river, and the main 
forest above described has spurs of forest growth 
extending along the banks of these creeks far out 
into the country. 

There are situations where this imaginary drive 
might become a reality, giving pleasure forever to 
the inhabitants of the city who delight in the river 
drive and also to the farmers who would continue 
to use it for generations, and toward whose farms the 
river road makes a direct line of communication 
from the city. Perhaps, in some instances, a lake 
might take the place of the river, or the main road 
might follow the course of a comparatively narrow 
stream with steep high banks. From such a road 
branches leading to the farming country might 
emerge through tributary valleys of smaller size. 
The aim should be to preserve the natural beauty 
of the country, while seeking at the same time direct- 
ness and convenience in lines of travel. By planting 
in certain places and preserving openings where there 



PUBLIC THOROUGHFARES 



211 



are good views, 
one picture after 
another will be 
presented to the 
delighted eyes of 
a traveler. 

(Fig. 48) THE 
PRAIRIE ROAD 

The two im- 
aginary roads al- 
ready described 
in outline had 
special features 
to make them 
interesting. One 
passed through a 
rolling country 
with hills and val- 
leys and wooded 
areas. The other 
followed a river, 
the banks of 
which were also 
wooded. The 












Fig. 48. — The Prairie Road. 



212 LANDSCAPE-GARDENING 

third road extends directly north from a prairie town 
through a country that is almost level, a treeless 
region with very large farms. What can be done to 
make such a road interesting ? The land stretches 
in every direction to the sky excepting where the 
farmers have built homes or planted wood-lots. It 
may* be taken for granted, as one starts out on this 
road, that it has been built for a long time and the 
farmers are "old settlers." As this road emerges 
from town, it leaves a street lined with elm trees 
which frame in the more open spaces of the country 
ahead. The roadway itself is a little higher than 
the adjoining prairie land. It is sixteen feet in 
width and has a nearly level shoulder on each side. 
Beyond the shoulder is a depression for surface drain- 
age and beyond the depression near the fence on each 
side is a path worn by pedestrians. Before reaching 
the large farms, there are cottages with truck-gar- 
dens and a few fruit-trees. Beyond these, in the 
region of the large farms, planting has added to the 
beauty and comfort of the thoroughfare. There 
is a continual growth of low vegetation between the 
paths on either side and the edge of the roadway. 
This includes grass, extensive areas of wild roses, 
aromatic sumach, wild grapes, Virginia creepers, 



PUBLIC THOROUGHFARES 213 

virgin's bower, bittersweet, ironweed, goldenrod, 
shooting-stars, strawberries, cinquefoils, Jerusalem 
artichokes, asters and other herbaceous plants. 
There are also shrubs of higher growth, but these 
usually appear in a group with certain trees. Soon 
after leaving town, the road is arched by groups of 
giant cottonwoods growing on either side, and at 
the base of these are elderberries. Beyond, near a 
farm-house, one sees a group of bur oaks. These 
are not as large as the cottonwoods. It would take 
another hundred years to bring them to maturity, 
but they are already beautiful trees, and in time no 
tree will surpass them in rugged dignity. Some of 
these trees stand in the highway and others in the 
front yard of the farmer's house (Fig. 49). At the 
corner of his yard is a thicket of wild crab-apples, and 
then along his front line come prairie roses and haw- 
thorns. Near by, along the highway, is an orchard 
which helps to carry the sky-line up to the top of the 
bur oaks, and the growth about the farm buildings is 
balanced by a wood-lot which has been planted on 
the opposite side of the road but far enough to the 
north so that the morning sun will appear early at 
the farmer's home. This wood-lot, planted by a 
farmer who had moved from one of the middle 



214 



LANDSCAPE-GARDENING 



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PUBLIC THOROUGHFARES 215 

states, was intended to reproduce the character of 
the woods with which he had been familiar. Pass- 
ing this farm-house and wood-lot, one reaches rela- 
tively open areas and looks across fields to homes 
on various cross roads. Then the road again be- 
comes shaded, this time with sycamores which reach 
their untrimmed spreading branches quite across 
the roadway as though the trees on one side were 
shaking hands with those on the other, and here 
again is the same combination that was seen in the 
ravine mentioned with the first road, a grouping of 
sycamores with extensive stretches of Indian cur- 
rants. 

After passing the sycamores and again looking oflF 
over the surrounding country, the road passes be- 
tween thickets of hawthorns of perhaps a hundred 
different varieties. It would pay one to travel out 
from town in the spring to see these hawthorns when 
they are in bloom, or again in the fall covered with 
fruit and richly colored foliage. Some distance be- 
yond the belts of thorns are thickets of wild plums 
leading up to Kentucky coffee trees, and these, in 
turn to honey locusts. Protected by one of the wild 
plum thickets is a red-bud showing its pink blossoms 
above the white flowers of its neighbors. Extending 



2i6 LANDSCAPE-GARDENING 

north from the honey locusts are other tree's forming 
almost an arboretum. These include all the oaks 
found growing along the rivers or in those wooded 
areas which exist in nearly all the prairie states. 
There are many species of oaks, several species of 
maples, black walnuts, hickories, ash trees, butter- 
nuts, lindens, elms, wild cherries, buckeyes and 
hackberries. With these trees are scattering haw- 
thorns, which appear to have strayed from the main 
group. Thickets of prickly ash appear here and 
there and also scattering areas of prairie, meadow 
and Carolina roses. Many native and some intro- 
duced flowers persist in growing along the roadside. 

The planting along the highway is sometimes re- 
inforced by wood-lots on either side similar to the 
one already mentioned. The trees standing between 
the path and the roadway, that is, occupying a strip 
lying between six and eighteen feet from the fence, 
will more than repay by their beauty, shade and 
protection from wind any harm they may do to the 
crops in the adjoining fields. These trees as well as 
the lower growth will furnish places for birds' nests, 
while the berries and other fruits will serve as dessert 
for the birds, whose principal meal will be supplied 
by the insects which the farmer would like to have 



PUBLIC THOROUGHFARES 217 

destroyed. Thus this road continues, extending 
out from some town, perhaps in central Illinois, 
and becomes more interesting with each year's added 
growth. 

To be sure, there are long stretches where the crops 
come to the fences without any interference whatever 
from the growth in the highway, having a ground- 
cover along the sides of the roadway consisting of 
the lower growth that has been mentioned often, 
not more than two or three feet high. Where the 
planted wood areas occur, the street planting joins 
directly on to that of the forest, giving an effect 
almost equal to natural woods if the planter has been 
skilful in selecting and arranging the various trees 
and shrubs. 

CITY STREETS 

If one enters the city from one of the above de- 
scribed country roads, one will be fortunate to find 
a condition so happily described by the late Charles 
Mulford Robinson as "the country flowing into the 
city." By this expression he meant the growth of 
trees, bushes and grass which should extend along 
the sides of all city or village streets devoted to 
homes. There are also some factory districts where 
one finds not only street planting, but park-like 



21 8 LANDSCAPE-GARDENING 

grounds for recreation between the factory and the 
street. The appearance of a city would indeed 
be greatly improved if there could be less crowding 
of apartment houses and some more or less public 
buildings upon the front property lines. Often it 
would be of great advantage to the appearance of 
a street if the fence protecting home grounds could 
be set back so that shrubs could be planted in front 
of it without encroaching on the sidewalk. This 
arrangement could often be adopted without any 
disadvantage to the home grounds. The fence 
might even be of inexpensive wire entirely hidden by 
the shrubs on either side, serving as a protection 
both to the grounds and to the shrubs because it 
would prevent passing through. 

The argument in favor of grouping applies just 
as well in the city as in the country. If the space 
for planting is wide enough, varied groups may be 
introduced. If the space between the curb and the 
sidewalk is narrow, trees might be planted in rows, 
but it is not essential that the spacing in this case 
should be uniform. A wide space may be left to 
provide a view from a house or from the street across 
attractive grounds, and where there is no view and 
no objection to continued shade, the trees may be 



PUBLIC THOROUGHFARES 219 

relatively closer together. Sometimes a space is 
left in the middle of a street for planting and a road- 
way constructed on either side. There are some ad- 
vantages and some disadvantages in this arrange- 
ment. The chief advantage is the ample room given 
for the spread of tree branches and for having effec- 
tive groupings of shrubs. The disadvantages are 
the larger expense both for construction and main- 
tenance and the narrowing effect in the appearance 
of the street. For instance, if the street is narrow 
with a parkway in the center, the road-bed on either 
side should be not less than sixteen feet in width, 
making a total width of pavement for the street of 
thirty-two feet, while if the road-bed were in the 
center, twenty-four feet would have as much ca- 
pacity for traffic as the thirty-two feet in two roads. 
The appearance of the roadway twenty-four feet 
wide in the center with ample parkways on either 
side would be more beautiful and give a more dignified 
effect than two narrow roadways with the street 
space divided into two lanes by the planting in the 
center. With a broad parklike street, having a 
width of one or two hundred feet, the two roadways 
would be appropriate, and, with a still wider street, 
even three roads would be advisable, the center one 



220 LANDSCAPE-GARDENING 

being for pleasure driving and the side roads for 
traffic. ' 

In any study of street arrangement for roads, 
planting and sidewalks, the aim should be to preserve 
the best effect of space. If possible, the road should 
be given the appearance of having breadth and free- 
dom. At the corners, the radius of curvature of the 
edge of the pavement should be at least twenty feet. 
Sometimes this may cause the sidewalk to meet the 
pavement on a curved slanting line, but there is no 
objection to this if the crossing is on a level with the 
sidewalk as it should be with the surface water re- 
moved by catch basins placed along the block in- 
stead of at the street intersection. 

When a city is on a hill with views out into the 
country, or when it borders a lake or river, care should 
be taken not to obstruct street ends (Fig. 50). The 
city plan should always allow the greatest possible 
freedom for views outside of the city itself. There 
will, however, be many advantages in having angular 
and curved streets within the city boundaries as these 
will display the architecture or planting to better 
advantage than long straight streets, and they may 
fit the topography, reduce cost of construction, 
and shorten distances. With such planning, there 



PUBLIC THOROUGHFARES 



221 



will be effective positions 
for prominent buildings, 
such as churches, es- 
pecially churches with 
steeples, library build- 
ings, courthouses, hotels, 
schools and theaters, but 
if a street commands a 
beautiful view of a val- 
ley, a distant hill, a lake 
or a river, a school build- 
ing or any other struc- 
ture should not on any 
account be placed where 
it will cut off this view. 
Frequently a most ex- 
asperating bill-board is 
put in just such a loca- 
tion. 

The discussion of the 
proper width of streets, 
the kind of pavement to 
use, and many other 
questions connected with 
construction and main- 




Jl.VrtH91H 



222 LANDSCAPE-GARDENING 

tenance is left to city planners and engineers, the 
special domain of the landscape-gardener or land- 
scape-designer being to protect the appearance of 
the great out-of-doors. It is his mission to plan 
the most effective arrangement of trees and other 
growth, to protect views, hide unsightly objects, 
preserve sunshine and everything that makes for 
beauty. 

In cities one great obstacle to the development 
of beautiful streets which does not prevail in the 
country is smoke. Trees make a city beautiful. 
Even if the architecture is ugly, as it too often is, 
large healthy trees would redeem the city. But 
smoke kills the trees, and although attractive streets 
and buildings are planned, it will be impossible to 
have really beautiful cities as long as the atmos- 
phere is polluted with smoke. There is a partial 
remedy in smoke-preventive devices and in care in 
feeding coal to furnaces, but probably the most effec- 
tive prevention of smoke in cities will come with 
the development of electricity at the coal mines and 
the carrying of heat, light and power by means of 
wires instead of on freight trains, trucks, wheel- 
barrows, and shovels. 



PUBLIC THOROUGHFARES " 223 

BILL-BOARDS 

The planting out of ugly features has been recom- 
mended, but some are so big that they cannot be 
obliterated, especially in the limited space available 
for that purpose. These are the bill-boards which 
have increased alarmingly in spite of legislation and 
the efforts of various public-spirited bodies to 
suppress them. Anything which offends the nose 
or the ear is at once called a nuisance, but many 
persons have not yet learned that things which offend 
the eye are also nuisances. A big glaring sign insists 
on passers-by spending their money for a certain 
brand of cigar. If a man stood on the curb calling 
the same words in a loud voice, he would at once 
be arrested. The same sentiment ought to exist 
with regard to bill-boards, that take advantage of 
streets and parkways which have been built at great 
expense for pleasant drives and walks. These in- 
solent boards, often two stories in height, face many 
roadways and public parks, and one cannot approach 
any large city without having the feeling for beauti- 
ful landscape continually offended. 



CHAPTER XII 

The Grounds of Railway Stations and 
Rights of Way 

Whether the grounds about a railway station 
should be improved by the company or the com- 
munity may be open to question, but there is no 
doubt about the wisdom of making these areas at- 
tractive. They form the main entrance to a city or 
village. Strangers are likely to judge a town by its 
appearance as seen from trains, or from the first 
impression given by the surroundings of a station. 
The eifect of these surroundings on one who is not 
a stranger and who sees them continually is im- 
portant. Their appearance should make him proud 
of his city. 

If the approach to a city from a station is satis- 
factory, there must be ample room for the accommo- 
dation of all vehicles and for a certain amount of 
embellishment with trees, shrubs, vines, flowers or 
lawn. There will usually be a combination of all 

of these in grounds that are ideal. 

224 



GROUNDS OF RAILWAY STATIONS 225 

Some railways have already made a good start 
in the right direction. Among these are the Bos- 
ton and Albany Railway at its stations near Bos- 
ton, the Pennsylvania Lines at many of their sub- 
urban stations, the Michigan Central at a few of 
its stations, and some others. Sometimes a rail- 
way has made an attempt to have beautiful station 
grounds without securing a satisfactory result. 
Perhaps a circular bed of flowers has been planted 
in the middle of a lawn near the platform, while 
back of this there are ugly sheds, buildings or ob- 
trusive bill-boards. The effect from the station 
shoufd take into account all the surroundings, in- 
cluding the buildings, the streets, and the planting. 
If the buildings are ugly, they might be improved 
by paint, or by planting trees so as at least par- 
tially to hide them, or they might be torn down 
and the ground they occupied included with the 
station property so as to make the whole effect 
attractive and dignified. A careful study of the 
grounds, with plans made by some skilful designer, 
should not only lead to a satisfactory welcome, 
but to real economy in maintenance and to in- 
creased valuation in adjoining property. 

In designing station grounds, the first essential 

Q 



226 LANDSCAPE-GARDENING 

is to plan for convenience, so that persons coming 
to the station, whether in vehicles or on foot, will 
reach it in an easy natural way. There should be 
ample room to unload passengers along the plat- 
form, or to receive them as they come from trains. 
If there is any angle about the station building not 
used, it can be occupied with vines, bushes, or per- 
haps a tree. If a city street adjoins the grounds 
of the station, perhaps the farther side can 
be planted rather thickly, and the near side kept 
relatively open, the resulting space being broad- 
ened by the combination and giving a dignified 
effect. If the station grounds adjoin private prop- 
erty, any unsightly buildings or fences thereon 
should be planted out (Fig. 51). A thick plantation 
of shrubs such as lilacs, syringa bushes, viburnums 
or thickly branched trees, like hawthorns, would 
be suitable for this purpose, and such .growth would 
make a desirable background for flowers. Often, 
in planting flowers, it would be wise to select per- 
ennials, since the cost of their maintenance would 
be small and also they would be effective during a 
greater part of the year. Goldenrods, for example, 
are often attractive even when dead and brown. 
Their graceful shapes, especially when partly cov- 



GROUNDS OF RAILWAY STATIONS 227 



-r , 



'I 



0^-. 



^ 



2 a, 




Fig. 51. — The Railroad Landscape. Plan for small suburban station 

grounds. "" 



228 LANDSCAPE-GARDENING 

ered with snow, would be tempting to any pho- 
tographer. Many other perennial plants are at- 
tractive even when their stems are dead, and the 
seeds which they produce often furnish food for 
birds in the winter. Evergreens would be suitable 
for planting if the atmosphere were free from smoke. 
Such would be the case about the stations along 
electric lines if the towns where these stations are 
located produced no smoke. Eventually, when 
all lines become electrified, one may hope for ideal 
conditions. 

Sometimes stations adjoin small parks or are 
near river banks or opposite lakes. Such loca- 
tions are especially fortunate, and advantage should 
be taken of the opportunity to secure interesting 
views of natural scenery as seen from the station or 
from cars. 

Railway employees, ticket agents, freight agents, 
train hands and others should be taught to see such 
beauty as exists about the railway stations and along 
the rights of way. This will add pleasure to their 
lives and lead to greater contentment. An em- 
ployee should regard the property of his com- 
pany as partly his own. Its appearance is certainly 
a matter of concern to him, and it is fortunate if 



GROUNDS OF RAILWAY STATIONS 229 

he can obtain pleasure from looking at it during 
his daily work and have a feeling of pride when he 
mentions it to one of his friends. 

The railway right of way, usually one hundred 
feet or more in width, offers a great opportunity 
for making the country beautiful. The entire right 
of way should always be utilized. The central 
part of it will be needed for road-beds, bridges, 
and tracks. Certain areas along the sides of the 
tracks will sometimes be used by employees for 
gardens. Such use should be encouraged, but a 
vast area of unoccupied land still remains which 
should grow something attractive to look at. This 
does not mean that railway companies should plant 
all this area. Nature will generally take care of the 
planting, but railway companies should keep their 
men with scythes away from It. A few examples 
will call to mind successful efforts on nature's part. 
There are places in northern Wisconsin where 
the ground along the side of the railways is covered 
in spring with the white flowers of bunchberry, and, 
in autumn, with the beautiful red berries of this 
charming little dogwood. Similar areas are covered 
with the pink and white blossoms of shooting-star. 
Along various lines in Michigan and other north- 



230 LANDSCAPE-GARDENING 

ern states, In marshy places far below the tracks, 
the ground will be covered very early in the season 
with the yellow flowers of marsh marigold, and later 
with the leaves and flowers of wild iris. Perhaps 
a few of our native lilies will show their heads in 
midsummer. Along certain lines near the sand 
dunes of Indiana, the land is sometimes covered 
with the white, blue, and purple flowers of lupine. 
Wild roses, ironweed, wild asters, goldenrod, black- 
eyed Susans, sunflowers, dewberries, and hundreds 
of other attractive plants will decorate the land seen 
from the window of a railway coach if they are 
only given an opportunity. The railway right of 
way might indeed become a great botanic garden 
where plants take care of themselves and select the 
situations best adapted to their growth. Often 
they serve this purpose at the present time, but 
they might do so to a greater extent if the matter 
were given a little thoughtful consideration. 

To be sure, one must consider the fact that sparks 
will fly from locomotives and will sometimes start 
fires. Much, however, can be done or left undone 
to encourage the wild garden or botanic garden that 
has been mentioned without increasing the fire 
risk. The wild gardens should exist along all rights 



GROUNDS OF RAILWAY STATIONS 231 

of way where the space is not needed for side-tracks 
or other purposes. When all railway trains run by 
electric power, the danger from fire will be neg- 
ligible and then the list of allowable plants will 
include many shrubs and small trees. Such some- 
times grow along the lines of electric roads at the 
present time and produce an effect that is charming 
and gives pleasure to travelers. 

When nature, with man's assistance, or, in cer- 
tain cases, with his non-interference, can decorate 
the banks of all streams, the borders of all high- 
ways, and all vacant land included in railway rights 
of way, the country will become so beautiful that 
people from other lands will wish to see it and its 
own citizens will derive pleasure each day from look- 
ing at it and from that feeling of contentment that 
comes with the ownership of beautiful objects and 
with seeing things well done. 

To bring about some of the results suggested, it 
is necessary that some of the railway officials should 
be imbued with a desire to have these results and 
with that vision which is the first requisite of any 
worthy undertaking. 



CHAPTER XIII , 
Parks, Forest Preserves, City Squares 

As in attempting any project, the one who es- 
says to design a park should first have the main 
purpose it is to serve clearly in mind. There are 
many opinions as to what this purpose is. The 
man who is fond of boating thinks the park is for 
the purpose of giving him an opportunity to take 
his favorite exercise. He wishes the golf course 
excavated to enlarge the yacht harbor. The golfer, 
on the other hand, desires the harbor filled up to 
enlarge his golf course. The equestrian thinks 
the park is a place for bridle paths, the horseman 
for a race course, the gardener for flowers, the pub- 
lic-spirited man, at others' expense, a place for a 
statue of his friend or a public building in which 
he is interested. The advertiser thinks the parks 
and the boulevards are the most appropriate sites 
for his bill-boards. A gardener argued that his 
*'Gates Ajar," sundial, elephant, and roll of carpet 

232 



PARKS 233 

made out of alternantheras, echeverias, and other 
bedding plants were the most interesting and valu- 
able feature^ of a pafk because the most persons 
came to see them. Frederick Law Olmsted, the 
greatest authority on parks whom the United 
States has produced, made the very apt reply, 
"more people go to a circus than to an art gallery." 
The number of persons who think that a park should 
contribute to their special hobbies is most exasper- 
ating. 

Dwellers in cities grow tired and large numbers 
to recuperate seek the country, the woods, the 
ocean, lakes, rivers, mountains, in short, nature. 
There are many, however, who cannot afford either 
the time or the money to go to the country and so 
the country should be brought to them. This 
means that the parks, which every large city should 
have, must partake as far as possible of the char- 
acter of the country. Sometimes one wishes to 
get away from people and have only trees, bushes, 
and birds for companions. A park should give 
this opportunity for quietness and rest. Again, 
many persons will have a desire to leave brick walls, 
paved streets, and the noises of a city and enjoy 
natural scenery just as they might wish to look 



234 LANDSCAPE-GARDENING 

at pictures in an art gallery. A park should fur- 
nish such scenery and be in restful contrast to busy 
streets. 

A few features that exist or have existed near 
cities might here be noted. In the outskirts of 
one city is a stream which has worn its way deep 
into a bed of limestone rock. At the upper edge 
of the often overhanging rock, thirty or forty feet 
above the bed of the stream, the ground slopes 
back and is covered with trees. This slope is very 
steep and could not be used for crops or buildings. 
The trees and vines spreading out over the irreg- 
ular rocky cliff made with the stream below a 
beautiful picture. Many admired this picture and 
wished that the stream, the rocks and the trees 
might belong to the city and be included in a park 
so that they could be preserved for all time, but 
the owner of the land thought the trees had value 
as wood and cut them down. 

A city is located in a valley a mile or two in width, 
this valley being bounded by high bluffs or hills. 
These hills were originally wooded. A portion of 
one of the hills was purchased by a public-spirited 
citizen and given to the city for a park. In other 
parts the bluffs have been scarred by rectangular 



PARKS 235 

streets, necessitating enormous cuts, the destruc- 
tion of all the trees and, for a long series of years, a 
barren, forlorn appearance. 

The destruction of streams which were once 
attractive and which might have been made the 
most interesting features of parkways and parks 
has already been referred to. 

Innumerable other instances might be given of 
the needless destruction of natural scenery, which 
is always to be regretted, and especially so when this 
scenery is within the boundaries of or near a large 
city. 

From the facts mentioned above and from others 
that will come to the mind of any intelligent, 
thoughtful person, it will probably be conceded 
that the main purpose of a park is to preserve, re- 
store, develop, and make accessible natural scen- 
ery. In some ways a park may be an improvement 
on nature, since, by skilful treatment, it may be 
made more picturesque or more artistic than if 
nature had been left untouched. A park is not 
primarily a place for play, but rather to feed one's 
soul. Its chief purpose may be illustrated by the 
following incident. A man who had lived to middle 
age in an inland town visited a city with parks 



236 LANDSCAPE-GARDENING 

located on the shores of a large body of water. He 
had never seen water extending beyond the range 
of vision. On going out to one of the parks and 
walking along the shore, he was filled with awe as 
he sat for a long time watching the big waves roll 
in. He was charmed by what he saw and greatly 
impressed by the power of the waves and the bound- 
less expanse. Such an experience is not to be meas- 
ured by dollars. It is priceless. A somewhat 
similar feeling may be experienced by one who visits 
a stretch of woods of apparently unlimited extent, 
or by one who looks over a park scene contain- 
ing a valley in the foreground, with hills or moun- 
tains miles away far beyond the park boundaries. 
Remembering that a park is a place to show 
natural scenery, it will be granted that this scenery 
will be observed from different points of view. One 
will wish to stop at certain places where the views 
are especially good, and there seats should be pro- 
vided. In going about, one will either walk upon 
paths or lawns, or ride in wheeled vehicles upon 
drives, or on horseback upon bridle paths, or in boats 
upon lakes or streams. Where one goes in boats 
in summer one may skate in winter, and also coast 
if there are hills. The walks and drives are pri- 



PARKS 237 

marily for convenience, for use. The lawns and 
water are primarily for beauty, but, incidentally, 
the water may be used for boating or skating, or, if 
conditions are favorable, for swimming, and the 
lawns for tennis, croquet, and certain other games 
or sports. • I 

It will thus be realized that while parks exist, 
as has been stated, primarily for beauty, they give 
at the same time opportunities for delightful exer- 
cise as well as rest and enjoyment. The trees 
furnish shade, the flowers color and perfume, the 
space freedom and grateful breezes. The lawns, 
the trees, and shrubs also give interesting and 
pleasing compositions in color and outline. 

PLANNING A PARK 

With parks fulfilling the purpose which has just 
been named, it will be seen that they can be of 
almost any size or shape. Their location will be In- 
fluenced, first, by existing natural objects. Forests, 
hills, especially if wooded, river banks, the shores 
of lakes, ravines, springs, streams, and rocky ledges 
are all desirable features, and a city where such 
features exist Is indeed fortunate if it can secure 
the land they occupy for public use as a park. 



23 8 LANDSCAPE-GARDENING 

Accessibility should also be taken into account in 
selecting locations for parks, but the character of 
the land is of greater importance, as one can easily 
travel a long or short distance. 

Assuming that a city, with the assistance of a 
landscape-gardener, has secured one or more tracts 
of land and placed this under the control of a park 
commission, the next step would be the making 
of suitable plans for park development. A park 
might be planned directly on the ground it occupies 
by a skilful landscape-gardener, but, usually, it 
is advisable to have a topographical survey and 
plat made so that one, by looking at this, can ob- 
tain a comprehensive idea of the extent and lie of 
the land, the area covered by forest and by any 
existing water, marsh, cultivated ground or rock. 
Even with such a plat, it Is advisable to study the 
land itself, noting all the features of special interest, 
the views outside of the park as well as those within 
its limits, and the favorable locations for such 
walks and drives as may be needed. The direc- 
tions given with regard to walks and drives in home 
grounds will usually be applicable in a public park. 
The designer should always remember that drives 
and walks are for use, that they should go where 



PARKS 239 

persons wish to travel, and there should be as few of 
them as possible while meeting these requirements. 
Advantage will, of course, be taken of all existing 
growth, and in selecting plants for such additional 
growth as may be required, those varieties which 
harmonize with existing vegetation and are suit- 
able for the soil will be chosen. The designing 
of the park will consist mostly in picturing to one's 
mind attractive compositions that will fit the situa- 
tion and take advantage of existing features. 

Since parks may have a wide range of sizes, 
shapes, and locations, there will be many kinds of 
problems involved and at least as many solutions. 
In general, a park should partake of the character 
of the country in which it is located. The de- 
signer should, therefore, study not only the site 
of the park itself, but also any native woods that 
may be in its vicinity, as well as the different soils 
and the hills, valleys, rocks, and other topograph- 
ical features of the surrounding region. Such a 
survey will often disclose valuable planting material 
that may be available for the park, and also give 
useful hints as to what the character of the plant- 
ing should be. Frequently a study of existing 
woods will call attention to pleasing combinations of 



240 LANDSCAPE-GARDENING 

plants, satisfactory grades, beautiful sky-lines, in- 
teresting boundaries for spaces, all of which will 
give useful hints in designing the park. 

If the tract selected for a park is covered or 
partly so with native forest, it is fortunate. In 
this case, the removal of some growth will doubt- 
less be needed. Some trees and bushes must be 
removed to open up views, others because they are 
partially or wholly dead, others since they inter- 
fere with the proper development of better growth, 
and still others just to make a beautiful picture. 
This work cannot be done or planned in an ofhce. 
It requires the skill of a landscape-gardener on the 
ground, and the selection of plants to be taken out 
should never be left to the wood choppers. A 
landscape-gardener should visit the land before it 
is selected for a park if possible, but if he cannot 
do that he should at least see it before any work 
is done on it. The need of this may be illustrated 
by an incident. A landscape-gardener was en- 
gaged to design a park and on going out to see the 
land with the park commissioners, he was told 
that he had come just in time. "You can have 
everything your own way," they said to him, "we 
haven't done a thing," then, after a pause, "ex- 



PARKS 241 

cepting to cut out the underbrush." The "under- 
brush" was found to have been most beautiful 
masses of prairie roses, elderberries, and paw- 
paws. It is a fact that what is often called "under- 
brush" is sometimes more valuable than the tree 
growth from a designer's point of view. He should 
pass on the relative value of different natural or 
existing features of the land purchased. It is 
wise to make use of existing plants or other material 
of value on the land acquired instead of destroying 
these and replacing them with something no better 
or perhaps not as good. 

Sometimes the problems connected . with a park 
may relate only to the thinning out and planting, 
as in those cases in which the park is small or oc- 
cupies a long narrow hillside, perhaps between a 
highway and a river, or a steep rocky bluif on the 
opposite shore almost inaccessible, and seen only 
by those who look across the river or from boats. 
In such parks, if any artificial features are called 
for, they will include only paths, seats, and per- 
haps a shelter or lookout. No grass will be needed, 
but the ground cover will be bushes, vines, her- 
baceous plants and leaves. In places rocky ledges 
and boulders may be exposed. 



242 LANDSCAPE-GARDENING 

With parks of somewhat larger area and greater 
width but still of moderate size, lawns and walks 
will be introduced, but if there is a street along at 
least one side of the park, probably no drive into 
or through it will be required. 

With still larger areas, drives will be introduced 
at first relatively near the boundary so as to leave 
large, uninterrupted, open spaces centrally lo- 
cated. These drives are for the purpose of helping 
those who ride to see the scenery of the park. In 
places, such drives will pass through wooded areas, 
then emerge into the open, perhaps on an elevation 
of land commanding a view of an extensive lawn 
or lake within the park, or a range of hills or other 
object of interest far beyond its boundary. Thus 
a park drive will be given variety, making it inter- 
esting in itself as well as placing it where it will 
command views of the scenery for which the park 
exists. 

GROUNDS FOR GAMES OR RECREATION 

As parks increase still further in size, there can be 
no doubt as to the propriety of allowing such sports 
as tennis, croquet, and the less strenuous games of 
ball to be played on the more extensive lawns, but 



PARKS 243 

football, excepting as played by small boys as a mere 
pastime, belongs in an athletic field or playground, 
and there may be some question as to baseball. 

Park commissioners are justified in hesitating 
to allow golf to be played in a park. They should 
first consider the paramount object in having a park, 
which is the development and preservation of scen- 
ery that is nature-like in appearance for the recrea- 
tion of all and especially those persons who cannot 
go to the country. A park exists for everybody 
without regard to the amount of taxes paid. It 
resembles the schools in that respect. In the schools 
a child of the poorest family has just as many 
privileges as one of wealthy parents and it is right 
that it should be so. The stability of the country 
and the security in which we live depend on the 
training and education of all the children to insure 
their becoming good citizens. The parks also help 
in the same direction. They are educational and 
ought to be more instructive than they usually 
are by having Intelligent employees who could 
point out to visitors matters that are of educa- 
tional value. It would be ideal to have every em- 
ployee in the park able to give a questioner the name 
of any tree, shrub or flower. Since a park Is pro- 



244 LANDSCAPE-GARDENING 

vided for all who wish to visit it, the commissioners 
should not allow golf, when, by doing so, they de- 
prive many persons of the privilege of using land 
which is needed for picnics, for rest, or for indul- 
gence in those quiet games which require little room 
and which are accompanied by no element of dan- 
ger such as being hit by a golf ball. On the other 
hand, when a park is very large in extent, the com- 
missioners would be justified in allowing golf, since 
by so doing there would be no interference with 
the usual recreation which the park affords. A 
great stretch of lawn, perhaps half a mile or more 
in extent, an expanse that is really needed for the 
park scenery, may be even more interesting if 
dotted with players. 

The introduction of certain sports into parks has 
sometimes been justified by the statement that 
they would bring more persons to the park. Some 
have even attempted to introduce race-tracks, which 
are entirely out of harmony with the spirit that 
should prevail in a park. For those who really 
need a park, it Is an advantage not to have it 
crowded. Horse racing, polo playing, football, cir- 
cuses, gatherings to listen to public speaking, and 
in general all features which tend to collect a crowd 



PARKS 245 

having little or no interest in the park scenery 
should be rigidly excluded. 

In all parks of comparatively large size and in 
those boulevards or parkways which have suffi- 
cient breadth, bridle paths may be introduced with 
propriety. Horseback riding is a pleasant and 
healthful exercise and is a mode of travel which 
gives the riders an advantageous outlook. They 
usually go at a leisurely pace which gives them time 
to see the combinations of open space and wooded 
areas to advantage, and they may easily stop and 
inspect any view or object which interests them. 
Moreover, equestrians with their horses are usually 
interesting to pedestrians and others who are tak- 
ing their recreation in different ways. Bridle- 
paths may with advantage be varied in width. 
Where there is ample space the width may allow 
several to ride abreast, and again where the room 
is more limited, the width can be narrowed so that 
only one line in single file can meet a similar line 
going in the opposite direction. A path may even 
be divided into two or more parts for the sake of 
saving trees and bushes and giving an interesting 
variety to the bridle-path itself. 

The buildings introduced into a park should be 



246 LANDSCAPE-GARDENING 

strictly limited to those which minister to the 
comfort of visitors. Shelters, an office building, 
comfort stations, bath-houses, boat-houses, res- 
taurants, and band-stands are legitimate. Some- 
times two or three of these buildings can, with 
advantage, be united in one. Such structures, 
however, should be subordinated to the general 
landscape effects. They should not be more con- 
spicuous than a group of trees. They should be 
conveniently located to serve their different pur- 
poses, usually near a walk or drive, but never out 
in the open. 

When a park is favorably situated, that is, when 
it has an abundant supply of water, it is well to 
give opportunity for swimming. Swimming is one 
of the delights of the country wherever there is a 
lake, creek or river, and city boys and girls should 
be given the same opportunities that their coun- 
try cousins enjoy. Boating and canoeing should 
also be provided for when the conditions are at all 
favorable. These are not only healthful exercises, 
but they give one an opportunity to see over- 
hanging trees and the delightful effects that should 
exist along the banks of lakes and streams. 



PARKS 247 

OTHER PURPOSES OF A PARK 

There are so many pleasurable ways of exercising 
and playing in a park that one sometimes forgets the 
fundamental reason for acquiring land and going to 
the expense of planting, making roads, walks, and 
introducing the other features which have been 
mentioned. There are, however, many incidental 
purposes that may be served by a park in addition 
to those named and to the main purpose of preserv- 
ing nature. A park may serve as an arboretum 
with collections of many kinds of trees and shrubs. 
It might also have a botanic garden or a planting 
of some special kind, such as a Japanese, medicinal, 
iris, or rose garden. Such gardens, however, should 
be placed by themselves and not interfere with the 
general scenery of the park. 

A zoological garden may sometimes be introduced, 
but in this case it would be well to have the zoo- 
logical part the main feature, the garden being sub- 
ordinated to the zoo instead of the zoo to the gar- 
den. A zoological garden or park should, if pos- 
sible, be large enough to give buffalo, deer, and other 
grazing animals a chance to get at least a portion 
of their food in the natural way.. Frequently the 



248 LANDSCAPE-GARDENING 

room is so limited that what should be the deer or 
buffalo pasture becomes merely a piece of bare, 
muddy or dusty ground. 

There are organizations of various kinds, such 
as gun clubs, natural history societies and others, 
that will seek to appropriate parts of parks to their 
own uses. A museum may with advantage be near 
a park, but should not be intruded within the park 
itself. The noise of a gun club seems quite out of 
harmony with the legitimate purposes of a park, 
and it is only on rare occasions that a suitable site 
for the operations of such a club can be found. 
If there should be a point of land extending out from 
a park into a large body of water to a place far re- 
moved from dwellings and from most of the park 
visitors and protected also by a hill or embank- 
ment which would deaden the sound, an excep- 
tion might be made to the general rule of exclu- 
sion. 

THE PARK COMMISSION 

The park commission should be small, preferably 
made up of not over five members. At least one 
large city in the United States has a park com- 
mission of only three members. A commission 
should be practically continuous by having only 



PARKS 249 

one member selected each year to serve for a 
definite term of as many years as there are mem- 
bers of the commission. A man chosen for a 
commissioner should have some leisure in order 
that he may find time to learn the duties of 
his office and the requirements of a park. He 
should have no interest connected with the park 
excepting that of rendering the best service to the 
public. An instance of what should not happen 
may be given here. Along the boundary of a park 
in a western city was a beautiful group of ever- 
greens. Across the highway, opposite the ever- 
greens, a man had his home. He wished to have 
the trees cut down so that he could look into the 
park. The park board was opposed to cutting the 
evergreen boundary. The man who lived opposite 
sought and eventually obtained a position as mem- 
ber of the board, with the avowed object of cutting 
down the evergreens. He succeeded in accomplish- 
ing his purpose, but to his own regret, for he found 
afterwards he had destroyed the privacy of his own 
home. An intelligent unbiased commissioner would 
have known that a park should be separated as far 
as possible from the built-up portion of the city. 
It Is a trite saying that a park should be divorced 



2SO LANDSCAPE-GARDENING 

from politics, but unfortunately there are many 
cases where this lesson has not been learned. A 
good commissioner serves the public from a sense 
of patriotism and not on account of patronage or 
perquisites connected with the office. He should 
be a lover of nature, a man of taste, and a sym- 
pathizer with all good things connected with the 
park. 

FOREST PRESERVES 

In many respects forest preserves near cities are 
like parks. They are similar in purpose and char- 
acter. Both have trees, shrubs, and flowers. 
Both include large areas. The area in forest re- 
serves should be much larger than that included 
in the city's park system. A forest reserve should 
be procured within a reasonable distance of every 
city and should be preserved as natural forest. 
One's feeling with regard to such a native forest 
should be similar to that which one might have for 
the preservation of Indian mounds or any other 
existing feature connected with Indian life, or to pre- 
serve undisturbed any historical spot. The forests 
with their trees, their undergrowth and wild flowers, 
are the oldest things in existence next to the earth 
itself. What a possession that city will have, say. 



PARKS 251 

in five hundred or a thousand years, which can 
point to a tract covered with trees and other 
native growth and say, "that is a tract of original 
forest ; it has been preserved as the Indians left 
it." 

A forest makes an appeal because it is beauti- 
ful and has something of mystery about it. It is 
nature's own creation, but if it is to be preserved 
it must be carefully guarded. The water level 
must not be lowered. The underbrush must not 
be cut out. The covering of decaying leaves must 
not be disturbed. The wild flowers must not be 
picked. Provisions should indeed be made for 
visiting a forest, but when one enters he should have 
a feeling like that of the religious man who visits 
a cathedral. He should go with reverence and take 
away with him not wild flowers and broken branches 
of trees and shrubs, but a remembrance of the beauty 
and fragrance of the forest, an appreciation of the 
birds which he has seen, a recollection of the fresh 
pure air, the sunshine, or perhaps a storm, a feel- 
ing that he has had communion with nature and has 
been refreshed and rejuvenated. 

If, in acquiring the forest land, it is necessary to 
take certain cleared or cultivated areas, these might 



252 LANDSCAPE-GARDENING 

be treated in a way to give the greatest satisfac- 
tion and pleasure. Open areas can be allowed to 
become forest, or they may be used for gardens, 
arboretums, playgrounds or kept as farms to pro- 
vide food for such animals as are used in the pre- 
serve. The forest might be treated in such a way 
as to grow valuable timber. It is reported that 
some cities in Europe have usually derived an in- 
come from their forests sufficient to pay the cities' 
expenses so that it has been unnecessary to levy 
taxes. 

The question of roads through a forest would be 
determined by local considerations. Roads in cer- 
tain places might serve as a protection against iire. 
They would also be useful in hauling out logs and 
brush from trees that have been cut, but a multi- 
plicity of roads for the general public is hardly to 
be desired. The main thoroughfares might prefer- 
ably be located outside of the forest itself, with the 
exception of certain cross roads when a forest is 
quite long in a direction at right angles to the main 
lines of travel. Usually seedlings of trees that be- 
long in the vicinity should be planted in a forest ; 
for example, if white pines had once existed in a 
forest but had been removed for the lumber they 



PARKS 253 

would produce, It would be wise to Introduce this 
tree again, and the same would be true of any 
species which had formerly grown in this or In 
neighboring forests. The paths should be merely 
wood paths, usually covered with last year's leaves. 
They should lead to such shelter houses as may be 
necessary and to the best places for observation. 

CITY SQUARES AND TRIANGLES 

A city is fortunate if, in laying out the streets, 
little areas of land are left here and there where 
trees can be planted. Often, if there Is a triangle, 
it will be unnecessary to cross it with a walk. In 
such cases, the center might be planted with trees, 
and from all points of view on streets approaching 
the triangle, these trees would help to make a 
picture. City squares often tempt pedestrians to 
make diagonal paths and It Is usually wise to pro- 
vide walks substantially along lines of travel. A 
big circular fountain or other obstruction in the 
middle of one of these walks Is usually an unfortu- 
nate arrangement. Fountains, statues, or other 
ornamental features should be placed at one side 
of the direct lines of walks. A square might be 
graded and planted so that a slightly curved walk 



254 LANDSCAPE-GARDENING 

would seem natural and be one that would give a 
good appearance. These small vacant areas, scat- 
tered through a city, and relieving the monotony 
of its street, and buildings, are seen in winter fully 
as much as in summer. They should, therefore, be 
planted to look well at all times of the year. Large 
areas in bedding plants or annuals which leave 
merely patches of bare ground from October until 
May are manifestly unsatisfactory as well as ex- 
pensive. If there were no smoke, evergreens could 
be chosen and would be especially effective in 
winter. When conditions are unfavorable to ever- 
greens, small trees and deciduous shrubs would be 
suitable. When there is room, no deciduous 
growth is more attractive throughout the year 
than that of hawthorns, and a group of these trees 
may be admirable. They may be used advan- 
tageously in combination with a tree of large size, 
like an elm or an oak, and also in combination with 
lower growth like that of roses, Indian currants, 
and aromatic sumach. Perennial herbaceous 
plants producing attractive foliage or flowers would 
also be suitable and might have the woody growth 
for a background. Early spring flowers, crocuses, 
snowdrops, scillas, bloodroots, hepaticas, daffodils, 



PARKS 255 

and many others would make these areas, which 
might have any shape, attractive during March, 
April, and May. The leaves and flowers of the 
trees and shrubs that might be selected would carry 
the attention throughout the summer season, and 
the fruits and autumn foliage would be features of 
special interest during the fall months. From 
November until March, the woody branches would 
be interesting from their manner of growth and also 
from their brown, gray, green, red, or other dis- 
tinctive coloring. Some hawthorns, as well as some 
viburnums, barberries, and roses, carry fruits well 
through the winter. 

It might be possible even with an atmosphere 
more or less polluted to have some bedding plants, 
provided they could be so placed as to look well 
with the hardy growth and could have their places 
taken by evergreens as soon as frost arrives. In- 
dividuals do not hesitate to spend large sums for 
evergreen window-boxes and other evergreen deco- 
ration for winter, and cities would be justified in 
going to some expense for the evergreens even if 
they were to last but a comparatively brief period, 
the pleasure received from such planting being fully 
equal to that from a bed of geraniums or begonias. 



256 LANDSCAPE-GARDENING 

The questions to be answered by the landscape- 
gardener when designing these so-called city squares 
are the same that must be met in regard to most 
of his other work, namely, what will serve the con- 
venience of the persons for whom the design is made ? 
What will give the most pleasure for a given amount 
of expenditure ? What will make for beauty in con- 
nection with the objects surrounding a "square" ? 

COUNTRY PARKS 

City parks and squares have until recently re- 
ceived more consideration from the public than 
has been given to country parks. It has been 
argued that those living in the country have nature 
close at hand, with plenty of sunshine and fresh 
air, and so do not need parks. Notwithstanding this 
argument, there are many places even in the country 
which should be preserved for the use of the public. 
Some of these have already been mentioned, namely, 
the borders of streams and lakes and steep hillsides. 

Any notable, natural feature should be preserved. 
Often an individual farmer may have on his land 
a spring, a wood-lot, a ravine, a great bowlder, an 
Indian mound, or other object in which he de- 
lights and which he takes pleasure in showing to his 



PARKS 257 

friends. While he lives this is sufficient, but when 
he dies the land may be owned by someone who 
cares nothing for the features named and they may 
be destroyed. If interesting objects or localities 
belong to the public, the chances for their preserva- 
tion for future generations will be better. 

TOWNSHIP PARKS 

There might be formed in every township a so- 
ciety for the preservation of the native landscape. 
Such a society, by proper legislation, might be given 
a legal status so that it could hold the title to such 
land as might be acquired by donation or other- 
wise. With such an organization, it ought to be 
possible to have interesting township parks, that 
is, wooded areas, the valleys of streams, lake mar- 
gins, ravines, or hills, level areas for games, swim- 
ming pools or other interesting features found within 
the township boundaries. Such parks would fur- 
nish delightful places for picnics or other outings, 
spots which formerly existed in abundance on pri- 
vate farms, but which are being destroyed by the 
growing intensity of farming and the increase in 
population. The outings which one takes are the 
things that count in life. They make life worth 



258 LANDSCAPE-GARDENING 

while, and suitable provision should be made for 
them, not one hundred miles or live hundred miles 
away, but near at hand. Often there are delightful 
natural areas near at hand which persons do not 
see. 

A society for the preservation of native land- 
scape, perhaps with the assistance of a landscape- 
gardener or some amateur nature lover, should 
point out and secure such places as have been 
named. Ordinarily, a man works steadily through- 
out the year with the exception of a short period 
when he has his "vacation," and then he spends the 
money he has saved up and a part of his "vaca- 
tion" in traveling to some distant "resort." Per- 
haps it would be possible to have just as attractive 
"resorts" near at hand and have more frequent 
vacations with all of the time spent in really living. 
The frequent vacations might be short, Saturday 
afternoons and Sundays, but they would be rest- 
ful and enjoyable. 

COUNTY PARKS 

There should be a friendly adjustment between 
townships and counties in the matter of parks. 
Some may think that township parks will answer 



PARKS 259 

all purposes, but occasionally there may be some 
natural feature, a wooded ridge, a river, a lake or 
a forest, extending through two or more townships 
which might with propriety be acquired or set aside 
by county commissioners or by a board of super- 
visors as a county reserve. Such parks should be 
planned primarily for the purpose of preserving 
attractive natural features but incidentally certain 
parts might be used for camping. Tourists who live 
in automobiles might find these parks convenient 
places for stopping over night. As in the case of 
township parks, they would furnish places for pic- 
nics, to which excursions might be made by parties 
from the city. Certain large areas might be car- 
ried on as county forests with the object of con- 
serving the lumber supply and making a profit for 
the county. 

The establishment of county parks would tend 
to disseminate among all the inhabitants the idea 
of having public parks. This object would be dis- 
cussed at the meetings of county ofiicials and the 
ideas presented would in this manner reach all of 
the township officers. The establishment of town- 
ship and county parks would not be justified unless 
they were used and approved generally. A dis- 



26o LANDSCAPE-GARDENING 

cussion of such parks at public meetings would tend 
to bring about a general knowledge and approval of 
this proposed feature of public life, which would 
add to the joy of living. 

STATE PARKS 

The desirability of having state parks may be 
illustrated by considering a state having a certain 
amount of frontage on a large body of water like the 
ocean. The interior counties would have no such 
frontage, but the dwellers in these counties would 
desire to visit the ocean. A state park would give 
them the privilege of doing so without trespassing 
on private property or paying exorbitant prices 
for the privilege of looking at the sea. Instead of 
the ocean, states might have other natural features 
that should be preserved for the benefit of all its 
people. Each state, for example, should have large 
areas of forest to be used for the combined objects 
of recreation and the production of lumber. 

The province of the landscape-gardener in regard 
to township, county, and state parks would be to 
advise In regard to the location, the areas to be in- 
cluded, and the treatment required. He should be 
able to see their natural beauty and point this out 



PARKS 261 

to those who are less observant. He should sug- 
gest changes that will make them more pictur- 
esque, more useful in the lines named. His sug- 
gestions would include advice with regard to the 
location of roads and walks, regarding cutting 
certain trees or areas of trees, and planting for the 
purpose of making parks more beautiful or in- 
creasing the variety of growth. He would also 
advise with regard to the treatment of water, rocks, 
or any other natural features of interest, and sug- 
gest ways in which parks might be used without 
injury and to the greatest pleasure of all. 

NATIONAL PARKS 

Most interesting books have been written about 
these parks and the government has issued in- 
structive bulletins regarding them. The size of 
this book does not permit of their discussion in any 
detail and they are mentioned here only for the 
purpose of expressing approval of them and also 
with the hope that such parks may be established 
in the older portion of the United States as well 
as in the Rocky Mountains and coast regions. 
The idea of having such parks was a grand one 
and the country is most fortunate in possessing so 



262 LANDSCAPE-GARDENING 

many large areas set aside for public recreation and 
for places of refuge for life of all kinds. Future 
national parks should include areas of sand dunes 
with frontage on the Great Lakes, areas of forest 
distributed through parts of the country east of the 
Rocky Mountains all the way to the Atlantic 
Ocean, areas in the northern and in the southern 
states. Let us preserve samples of all the wooded 
areas and all the natural attractions which our 
children, grandchildren, and all the generations yet 
to come will be glad to see. Do not let any portion 
of the country through lack of forests degenerate 
to the conditions of certain parts of Spain and other 
countries that have been denuded of woods. 



CHAPTER XIV 
Golf Grounds 

The work of the landscape-gardener might al- 
most be described by the definition of golf, "some- 
thing to make walking interesting." On this ac- 
count the actual game of golf need not be especially 
interesting to the landscape-gardener, because he 
really does not require the exercise to keep him 
well, but the golf grounds with their broad ex- 
panse of open green-covered fields and their 
unusual opportunities for producing beautiful land- 
scape effects do make such an appeal. Usually 
the lines of the fair greens leave certain unused 
areas, often triangular pieces of ground of per- 
haps half an acre or more in extent. Such tri- 
angles offer opportunities for effective planting. 

Occasionally one or more large-growing trees may 
be planted near the tees and give grateful shade 
to those who are waiting for a chance to play. 
Sometimes, when the grounds are large, they may 

263 



264 LANDSCAPE-GARDENING 

include a stream or a lake, with opportunities here 
and there along their banks in stretches between 
the fair greens for some shrubs or vines. The 
vicinity of the club-house requires much study and 
planning in order to produce the best landscape 
effect. The club-house is in some respects like a 
home, and the approach drive should be developed 
along the same lines that would be adopted by an 
individual. Usually the verandas of a club-house 
will be larger, however, than those of a dwelling, 
because larger numbers will wish to use them. They 
will accommodate perhaps many groups at one 
time. The landscape effects as seen by these groups 
will be studied with certain purposes in mind. The 
various views themselves as real outdoor pictures 
will perhaps be the first consideration, but these 
views should be influenced by the desire of those 
sitting on the veranda to watch the players in dif- 
ferent parts of the course and especially the ap- 
proach to the 9th and i8th holes. The passing 
of an island of trees, however, will not detract from 
the interest, as one can watch the players in ap- 
proaching the island and a little later as they 
emerge ; a group of foliage in the golf grounds an- 
swering the same purpose as an island in a lake. 



GOLF GROUNDS 265 

Perhaps the place for the largest amount of plant- 
ing would be along the boundaries. The greatest 
value of the proposed landscape development, how- 
ever, will not be realized fully unless one takes 
into account the surrounding land. The develop- 
ment of a successful golf course causes the land 
along its borders to be much sought after. One 
can realize the reason for this. Most men in build- 
ing homes for themselves, if the matter of money 
did not enter into their calculations, would have 
fine large places with ample room, the idea per- 
haps being typified most nearly by a large Eng- 
lish estate. If a man can secure an acre or two next 
to a golf course, the club grounds would form a large 
part of his estate (Fig. 52). His front yard and 
broad acres would be mown and taken care of with- 
out expense to him save in his annual dues. His 
domain might, therefore, contain a hundred acres or 
even more while he would be required to pay taxes 
on only pne or two. A golf club should, therefore, 
when first looking for grounds, secure if possible 
all of the land surrounding the proposed area needed 
for the game, thus providing for future homes for 
members or others who will appreciate the advan- 
tages offered by the exceptional locations. The 



266 



LANDSCAPE-GARDENING 



411031 



M ■■■■■' 
i^. — f~- 







GOLF GROUNDS 267 

ownership of the adjoining land will, moreover, 
enable the club to control the surroundings so that 
their future development will not detract from the 
beauty of the grounds themselves. In some cases, 
the sale of this additional land for homes has paid the 
first entire cost of the property. There should not 
be too many houses or too much evidence of them as 
seen from the club-house or the points along the course. 
With careful study and with planning, the public 
ground of the course and the private grounds of the 
surrounding homes can be made to aifect each other 
in such a way as to add to the comfort and the en- 
joyment of all : to the golf members in the knowl- 
edge that no unsightly building will be erected 
beyond its limits which can injure the appearance 
of the course, and to those living in the surround- 
ing homes by having the planting done in such a 
way as to insure them extensive and beautiful views. 
The selection of location for the homes just men- 
tioned will be in some respects like that of house 
sites about an attractive lake. In either case, a 
house can be so placed that its windows will ap- 
parently command all the desirable views while the 
house itself, framed and partly screened by plant- 
ing, is comparatively inconspicuous. 



268 LANDSCAPE-GARDENING 

The grounds of an ideal golf course, ideal from 
the landscape point of view as well as from the 
golfer's standpoint, should include not only a good 
course with extra holes for practice, clock golf, tennis, 
and perhaps opportunities for other outdoor sports, 
but it should also contain flower-gardens to fur- 
nish flowers for the embellishment of the club- 
house, and perhaps certain vegetables. With a 
gardener who had not only technical ability but 
who was honest and would work for the interest of 
the club, a large-sized vegetable-garden might be 
warranted. 

Grounds for golf clubs have sometimes been 
purchased at farm prices and in such cases one can 
easily imagine that an additional area for a farm, 
which would be leased to some one who would supply 
good poultry and dairy products and perhaps wood 
for the fire-place, might be a wise investment. With 
many forms of land development, whether for 
schools, parks, golf grounds, or other public or 
semi-public use, one naturally reverts to home 
grounds for a pattern and seeks to introduce many 
of the features which would make a home attrac- 
tive. Among such features, a piece of woodland 
with quantities of wild flowers would be most de- 



GOLF GROUNDS 269 

lightful. A low meadow or bog-garden full of 
marsh marigolds and bluebells would be charm- 
ing and in the planting that has been previously- 
mentioned one would look for all those effects which 
can be found in various parks and especially along 
the borders of natural woods. 

A new game has been described under the name 
of "arrow golf," which ought to become popular. 
Like golf, it would make walking interesting. Its 
arrows, decorated with colored feathers, would be 
more easily found than golf balls. The bunkers 
which form the hazards of ordinary golf and are 
sometimes unsightly would be unnecessary. 
There would be greater freedom for the exercise of 
skill in producing beautiful and varied landscape 
effects. The expense of maintenance should be 
comparatively small. 

In the chapter on Parks, some doubt was ex- 
pressed as to the propriety of park commissioners 
allowing portions of the parks under their charge 
to be used as golf grounds and even going to the 
expense of developing and maintaining such 
grounds. Certainly such permission should not 
be given where the land required is needed by poor 
people, by great numbers of children, and by men 



270 LANDSCAPE-GARDENING 

and women who could not even afford to buy clubs 
with which to play. 

It is proper to raise the same question as to 
whether commissioners having charge of forest 
preserves would be justified in taking public land 
for golf. If it is proper to take land in the forest 
preserve for golf, certainly only that part should be 
taken which is vacant, that is naturally without 
trees, shrubs, or other attractive growth. If land 
in forest preserves is set aside for golf, should it be 
developed and maintained at public expense for 
the benefit of the comparatively few persons who 
would use it .? This question need not be discussed 
here, but attention is called to the fact that there 
can be no objection to golf clubs buying land at 
their own expense adjacent to or partly surrounded 
by tracts of forest preserve. A juxtaposition of 
this kind will be of advantage to both the public 
who own the forest and to the golf club. Either 
might provide swimming pools, places for coasting, 
skating, and playing hockey. Either might oc- 
casionally contain a polo field, provided that in the 
case of the forest preserve there was no encroach- 
ment on the forest. The golf club and the forest 
preserve might combine in skating facilities, es- 



GOLF GROUNDS 271 

pecially if there was a lake or river common to 
both, or they might combine in bridle paths or any 
other features where they would not interfere with 
each other. There might, for example, be a path 
through a woodland border of the golf grounds 
over which a walking club could route its Saturday 
afternoon hike without harming any one. 

The establishment and use of golf grounds should 
be encouraged by everyone. Anything which will 
take persons to the country and give them abun- 
dant exercise should be encouraged. Those who 
cannot afford the time or money to play golf should 
not envy those who can. The more innocent, 
healthful enjoyment there can be for a community 
as a whole, the better. Each individual should 
feel and acknowledge this whether he himself 
can or cannot partake in any special form of this 
enjoyment. If each can form the habit of rejoic- 
ing at the happiness of another, it will add to his 
own comfort and peace of mind. 

There Is ample land for the production of food. 
The number of cultivated acres found in the older 
states might be increased and each acre might 
produce far more than at present. Let us by all 
means keep all areas for parks, forest preserves, 



272 LANDSCAPE-GARDENING 

golf grounds and all vacant spaces that will con- 
tribute to the pleasure and happiness generally. 
If clubs will buy and develop such land for the en- 
joyment of a portion of the community, if they 
will pay taxes on it and maintain it without its 
being a burden on the public at large, they should 
be encouraged to do so. 



CHAPTER XV 

School Grounds 

The school is the second home of children and 
its grounds are second only in importance to those 
of the home itself. They should be given careful 
consideration, and ample playground should by all 
means be provided. 

IN THE COUNTRY (Fig. 53) 

Of all school grounds none is primarily of greater 
importance than that about a school in the coun- 
try, and yet none has received less consideration 
or made less advance toward ideal development. 

A story is told of a certain country school. The 
boys of this school made a practice of going over 
the fence to an adjoining pasture for the purpose 
of playing ball. The farmer who owned the pas- 
ture complained bitterly to the school-board. There 
was more or less anger at the boys on the part of 
both the board and the farmer. Finally, it was 

T 273 



10 •; r*-""; ffi 



-*\ 






r*'. 



j-^. 






(6"isr, 







PLAAI 



;«!:• 'Ir'A COWNTCY OCWQOL YARD -^ 



vXALfc OP FEtT r 



Fig. 53. — The School Grounds. In the above plan the drive may be used 
as a walk and the planting shown may include a variety of trees and shrubs. 



SCHOOL GROUNDS 275 

decided that all would visit the school together. 
They arrived during intermission and found the 
boys in the midst of a game on the forbidden 
ground. The members of the board became quite 
interested in the game. At last one bright mem- 
ber asked the farmer what rent he would charge 
for an acre of land. He replied, naming a very 
moderate sum which the board at once agreed to 
pay. The fence was moved to the other side of the 
acre and all were happy. This incident illustrates 
that every school should have ample space for 
play. 

There should be room for ball for the girls as 
well as for the boys, for pull-away and other games, 
for coasting and skating, for school-gardens and for 
trees and shrubs that will make the school-house 
and the grounds attractive in appearance. It 
would be well if the list of plants included many 
species so that the plantation would form at least 
a local arboretum. In selecting the site for a school, 
all desirable features should be remembered, and 
advantage taken of any existing hill for coasting 
if there is one near the proposed site, of existing tree 
growth, or any feature that will add to the beauty 
of the ground and to the comfort and entertain- 



276 LANDSCAPE-GARDENING 

ment of the pupils. Nor is it the pupils alone that 
should be considered. There are the teachers and 
parents. A school in the country is a neighbor- 
hood center. Here, from time to time, are various 
gatherings, usually within the building, but if the 
grounds are ample and picturesque, they will form 
an appropriate place for picnics and outdoor meet- 
ings of various kinds. Here might be exhibited 
the products of the school-gardens, or collections 
of flowers, vegetables and other products of the 
farms of the neighborhood. The school and its 
grounds should serve to draw persons together and 
create a neighborhood spirit which would tend 
toward improvement in every way. It should 
lead to greater general intelligence, better crops 
and more appreciation of beauty. 

Naturally, the planting about the ideal school 
would be arranged along the boundaries, leaving 
large central open spaces for play' and for air and 
sunlight. Touches of foliage might appear here 
and there about the building, perhaps from some 
vines on the walls, some shrubs each side of the en- 
trance steps, or in a reentrant angle, but there 
should be nothing to shade the windows. The trees 
along the boundary might be arranged in groups 



SCHOOL GROUNDS 277 

with spaces left to preserve views or let in breezes. 
Small trees and shrubs should be used extensively, 
and there should be an abundance of perennial 
flowers. The annuals will be taken care of in the 
gardens for the pupils. An area of five to ten acres 
would be none too much for this second home for 
children who usually come from farms of two thou- 
sand acres or more. With ten acres, a charming 
park might be made including within its boundaries 
a school-house and all the features named. 

Higher institutions of learning, including col- 
leges and universities, often take great pains and 
spend large sums in acquiring and developing 
beautiful grounds. Such grounds have a great 
influence on the lives of students. That the love 
for one's alma mater is often due quite as much to 
the charm of the campus as to the buildings or the 
instruction given in them is sometimes claimed by 
graduates. The influence of an attractive campus 
extends through life and affects, in a marked de- 
gree, the homes built by the alumni. It is im- 
portant, therefore, to have schools that care for 
children during the impressionable age from five to 
fifteen well equipped with beautiful surroundings. 
Their influence would extend to the homes of the par- 



278 LANDSCAPE-GARDENING 

ents as well as to those the children might build 
in future years. 

It may be said that children will destroy anything 
that is planted. This is one reason for planting 
school grounds so that youth may be taught to 
respect and admire their plant neighbors. Inci- 
dentally, certain flowers and portions of plants might 
be used with great advantage by the teacher in giv- 
ing instruction in botany, not in classes, but in 
general talks that would interest and give recrea- 
tion. Such short talks on natural objects or phe- 
nomena which pupils can observe for themselves 
are often restful, because they introduce variety 
and give instruction that can be "soaked in" by 
the students without apparent effort or respon- 
sibility on their part. 

IN CITIES 

It would be well if many of the features of coun- 
try schools could be retained in the city. The school 
in the city should have ample grounds and should 
continue to be a neighborhood center. There 
should be space for play and for trees without shut- 
ting out light. Perhaps the play might be con- 
centrated more than in the country by using swings, 



SCHOOL GROUNDS 279 

slides, and other apparatus, but even then there 
should be abundant room for gardens, borders of 
shrubs, skating, and coasting. If school grounds 
could be planned in advance before the property 
needed is covered with expensive buildings, they 
could be developed with far greater economy than 
under present methods. Since school-houses have 
often been erected in cities on small sites allowing 
no room for outdoor exercise, it has fallen to the lot 
of various public-spirited bodies, including boards 
of aldermen, park commissions and improvement 
associations, to supply playgrounds. This causes 
much duplication of effort and expenditure of time 
and money that would have been unnecessary 
with the exercise of wise foresight. 

Now that city planning is receiving attention, 
perhaps future school yards will become adequate. 
In general, they should contain all the features 
found in the best playgrounds. There should be 
room for tennis, baseball, and other games, for 
gymnastic apparatus, and provision for swimming, 
space for trees to give shade and make the grounds 
attractive, and there should be shrubs and flowers. 
The grounds should be planned so that portions 
of them could be flooded in winter for skating. 



28o LANDSCAPE-GARDENING 

The space allotted for a school ground should be 
sufficient for a combination of what is usually found 
at present In a typical school yard, playground, and 
small park. The cost of the original investment 
and the maintenance of such a combination would 
be much less than that of separate areas under 
different managements, while the accommodation 
would be far greater for play, for neighborhood 
gatherings, and for everything tending to unite 
and improve the community tributary to the school. 
Such an institution, providing facilities for edu- 
cation and recreation, would bring together teachers, 
children and parents and create a healthful, stimu- 
lating neighborhood spirit that is now generally 
lacking. 



CHAPTER XVI 
Arboretums and Botanic Gardens 

The most satisfactory and useful planting proj- 
ect in the United States is the Arnold Arboretum at 
Boston. It gathers its material from all temperate 
regions. It issues bulletins regarding not only the 
trees and shrubs of the United States and Canada 
but also those that are available from different parts 
of Europe and Asia. At the Arboretum one can 
actually see and study the individual trees and shrubs 
mentioned in the bulletins and in many cases study 
their effects in groups or masses. If one can visit 
the Arboretum at different seasons of the year, one 
can observe the winter effects of branching, the 
appearance of buds and leaves, the blossoms, the 
summer foliage, the autumn coloring and the fruits 
of hundreds of species of woody growth. 

While the development of the Arnold Arboretum 
has been admirable, it is seen by only a small frac- 
tion of those who should learn the facts which it can 

281 



282 LANDSCAPE-GARDENING 

teach, a small part even of those who are interested 
in landscape-gardening. The United States is so 
vast in extent, it has so many variations of soil and 
climate and its people live so far apart that it should 
have more than one arboretum. Other experiment 
stations and government plantations in various sec- 
tions of the United States are doing good work, but 
more arboretums devoted especially to planting 
material suitable for landscape work are greatly 
needed. There should be at least a great compre- 
hensive arboretum for the central northern part of 
the United States, one or more for each of those sec- 
tions known as the Rocky Mountain region, the coast 
and the southern states. Even with arboretums in 
the localities named, these should be supplemented 
by plantations at universities, especially w^here land- 
scape-gardening is taught, and in the parks of the 
various cities. An individual who wishes to develop 
beautiful home grounds should be able to see and 
become acquainted with the available planting 
material for this purpose in the parks of any 
neighboring city. In the latter especially, one 
should have an opportunity of judging the effects 
of different trees and shrubs in landscape work. 
For their educational value, labels giving names, 



ARBORETUMS AND BOTANIC GARDENS 283 

localities and dates of planting would be very 
useful. 

In an arboretum, the space allotted to each plant 
or group of plants should be large enough to allow 
full development for each individual or group and 
also open surrounding space so that trees and shrubs 
can be seen to advantage even when they have reached 
old age and attained their greatest size. The land 
selected for an arboretum should, if possible, have 
a varied topography with slopes to the north, south, 
east and west and each plant should be placed in its 
most appropriate location in regard to slope, soil, 
and moisture. For example, birches and hemlocks 
should be on the north slope. Most trees and shrubs 
noted for their blossoms should have a south or at 
least a sunny exposure. Some trees prefer sand or 
gravel and others a clay soil. 

The roads and walks in the arboretum should be 
planned with easy lines and grades with the plants 
to be seen from them so placed that they can be ob- 
served conveniently. To save space and expense, 
there should be comparatively few roads. Those 
who are studying plants can do so best when walking 
or standing. 

Even though an arboretum is primarily a museum, 



284 LANDSCAPE-GARDENING 

its plans should be influenced by a desire to produce 
pleasing landscape effects. A hillside showing at 
different seasons the flowers of sugar maples, june- 
berries, red-buds, dogwoods, crab-apples and haw- 
thorns can be planted so as to show beautiful pic- 
tures as well as the characteristics of the different 
plants. Evergreens can be planted so as to show 
the characteristic development of the individuals 
with branches spreading out and resting upon the 
ground and also in time showing the group and trunk 
effects as seen in their native forests. Community 
effects with trees and shrubs that grow naturally as 
neighbors can also be shown. An ideal arboretum 
would require a large area, but as it is for the benefit 
of a wide section of country the necessary space should 
be provided. 

An arboretum should serve not only for the study 
of the plants it contains but to some extent at least 
as a public park. It should have beautiful scenery 
with hills and valleys and at the bottom of the latter 
either running streams or reflections from smooth 
surfaces of water, supplemented by open glades of 
lawn or meadow. 

It will be advantageous if the site chosen for an 
arboretum contains some native forest growth with 



ARBORETUMS AND BOTANIC GARDENS 285 

full-sized trees as well as younger ones and a varied 
growth of small trees and shrubs. Such a forest 
with plenty of adjacent open space will make 
a good background for various plantations and will 
help out in the landscape effects mentioned in the 
preceding paragraph. It will also illustrate the 
variety, gracefulness, and picturesqueness of nature 
and this will tend to improve the character of the 
artificial plantations. It cannot too frequently be 
realized that nature is the best teacher and that even 
in the museum-like arboretum she can give points 
on arrangement. 

The arboretums thus far discussed have been of 
large areas intended for giving pleasure and instruc- 
tion to the residents of many states, but there is no 
reason why cities, villages, townships, even indi- 
vidual estates, should not have smaller arboretums 
for local study. Every park commission, cemetery 
association, or body having charge of public grounds 
of any kind should continually make collections 
and try experiments. A farmer's family could ob- 
tain great pleasure by experimenting with different 
ornalnental trees, shrubs, and flowers as well as those 
planted primarily for fruit. Such collections and 
experiments wherever land is devoted to tree growth, 



286 LANDSCAPE-GARDENING 

although not as comprehensive as those connected 
with great arboretums, will nevertheless be seen by 
many persons who have not time to travel far from 
their own homes and will lead to that ideal enjoy- 
ment in life that accompanies an acquaintance with 
the beauties of nature. 

BOTANIC GARDENS 

Supplementing the arboretums, there should be 
botanic gardens. Such gardens exist in many places. 
The Kew Gardens at London, the Jardin des Plantes 
at Paris, and the New York Botanic Garden in the 
Bronx may be mentioned as examples. There are 
many smaller gardens and these should be even more 
numerous than the smaller arboretums that have 
been mentioned. Many schemes might be followed 
in designing a botanic garden. It might be arranged 
to show the native flora, each plant being seen In 
its favorite situation as to soil, shade, and moisture 
and accompanied by its usual neighbors. It might 
be planted to represent all hardy herbaceous plants, 
those that are introduced as well as indigenous. It 
might be arranged with regard to classification, all 
the leguminous plants being in one locality, all with 
composite flowers in another, and so on. There 



ARBORETUMS AND BOTANIC GARDENS 287 

might be gardens showing the sequence of bloom 
from early spring to late fall. A comprehensive 
botanic garden should contain somewhere a collec- 
tion of medicinal plants, of plants noted for their per- 
fume, a bog-garden, and plants arranged with regard 
to the color of their flowers. 

There is hardly any limit to the number of ideas 
that can be followed in designing a botanic garden. 
No artificial scheme, however, can be quite as satis- 
factory to the botanist as nature's own garden when 
left undisturbed. A botanist likes to go to an un- 
frequented marsh, or a bit of woods, a meadow, the 
margin of a lake, or a hedge row. No botanic gar- 
den is ever more interesting than the more or less 
open woods on the back end of a farm, containing 
perhaps a stream supplemented by pools of water 
occupying its abandoned channels in which water- 
lilies and various water plants are growing; woods 
protecting shade-loving flowers ; woods filled w^ith 
openings of moist soil, where many kinds of ferns 
will find a congenial home ; woods including sunny 
sandy ridges for lupines, puccoon, spiderwort and 
various graceful grasses ; woods having some ever- 
greens and larches with moist partially shaded situ- 
ations beloved by lady-slippers and ladles' tresses. 



288 LANDSCAPE-GARDENING 

Such a situation, combining tree and shrub growth 
with that of herbaceous plants, containing an abun- 
dance of shade and sun, leading the botanist on from 
one interesting plant to another, keeping him more 
or less excited over the prospect of making new dis- 
coveries, is the ideal one for a botanic garden. 

Such gardens of more or less limited extent might 
exist on almost every farm, or even in the home 
grounds of suburbs. The designer of a large public 
botanic garden should certainly be influenced in 
making his plans by a recollection of the favorite 
haunts of botany students and collectors. Public 
gardens must of course have walks for visitors, but 
they might be surrounded by wooded plantations 
which would give a charming seclusion and protec- 
tion from wind. They might have the charm of 
varied outlines and variety of soils and situations 
to suit the tastes of diiferent plants and combine an 
artistic arrangement with the utilitarian object of 
affording a chance for study. 

There would be some advantage in combining 
a botanic garden, arboretum, and forest preserve, 
since each would supplement the other. The back- 
ground of a forest of considerable extent would give 
a charm to both the arboretum and the garden. The 



ARBORETUMS AND BOTANIC GARDENS 289 

former might be irregular in outline. Perhaps it 
might cover a series of ridges or hills and its borders 
might form numerous projections and bays of large 
extent, giving ideal situations for additional plants. 
Trees, shrubs, and flowers are growing together in 
nature and it is, therefore, fitting that they should 
be associated in plantations made by man. 



CHAPTER XVII 

Cemeteries 

The cemeteries of the present day that are located 
in the suburbs of large cities came into existence from 
a desire to have burials at a distance from the centers 
of population and in places with beautiful surround- 
ings. They are often called "rural cemeteries." 
The first one in the United States to merit this name 
was Mt. Auburn, near Boston, Massachusetts, 
founded in 1831. Since then the idea of having 
burial places park-like in their character has been 
spreading until they contain today some of the most 
beautiful landscapes developed by the hand of man. 
The wish to have in the cemetery the beauty of trees, 
shrubs, lawns, and flowers has gradually led to the ab- 
olition of fences, coping, and other lot inclosures, and 
a reduction in the number of monuments and the size 
of headstones (Fig. 54). Many persons now believe 
that the last resting-place should be surrounded by 

the quietness and beauty of these features of nature's 

290 



CEMETERIES 



291 




292 LANDSCAPE-GARDENING 

handiwork without distracting stonework or artificial 
objects. Others say that "the cemetery should be 
a cemetery," meaning by this that it should resemble 
somewhat closely the old conventional churchyard 
or graveyard, with its multitude of crowded tomb- 
stones inscribed with the good qualities of those 
buried within its walls. 

All agree that the cemetery should be so situated 
and maintained as to menace in no way the health- 
fulness of surrounding neighborhoods, but, as con- 
ducted at present, no areas are freer from contagion 
or do less to pollute the atmosphere than those de- 
voted to burials. Cemeteries, indeed, rank with 
parks in preserving open spaces and in the growth 
of foliage which purifies the air. The ideal location 
is one where the ground is somewhat undulating and 
thoroughly drained by having a porous subsoil, while 
the surface soil is sufficiently rich and deep to sup- 
port a good growth of vegetation. In some instances, 
as at Forest Hills, Boston, and at Woodlawn, New 
York, it has been necessary to blast and remove rock 
and then fill in the space with earth. In other cases, 
the natural soil has been so poor that it has been 
necessary to cover it with a rich earth hauled from 
a long distance. In still other cases it has been 



CEMETERIES 293 

necessary to select a clay soil because there was no 
other, or to make ground by excavating lakes, using 
the material excavated to raise the surrounding land, 
or to inter above ground in structures erected for 
the purpose, as at New Orleans. 

SUBDIVISIONS, WALKS, AND DRIVES (Fig. 55) 

When a site is chosen, it is usually subdivided into 
sections and lots, which must be made accessible by 
the construction of drives and walks. A road should 
pass within about 150 feet of every lot. The width 
of the roadways should vary according to the size 
of the cemetery and the probable amount of driving. 
If the area is very small, a drive may be unnecessary. 
As cemeteries increase in size, a grass walk eight feet 
in width may answer every purpose, using this when 
needed as a drive ; then a driveway sixteen feet in 
width may be required in a somewhat larger area so 
that vehicles can pass each other ; and, finally, a 
cemetery designed to accommodate large populations 
should have good roadways, usually twenty-four feet 
in width. Formerly these roadways would have 
been constructed of ordinary macadam or gravel, 
but with the increased use of automobiles, the ma- 
terial used for roadways should be bitulithic con- 



294 



LANDSCAPE-GARDENING 




CEMETERIES 295 

Crete, bitulithic macadam, cement concrete, or brick, 
preference being given to the first. 

Walks should usually be left in grass and form part 
of a continuous lawn, being of better appearance and 
more easily maintained than those of gravel. The 
location of the drives will determine the shapes and 
sizes of the sections, the ideal size being from 250 
to 300 feet in width and 700 or 800 feet in length. 
The plan should be made after a careful study of 
the ground in question, the drives being placed so 
they will have easy grades, command good views and 
be as few as possible when spaced approximately 
300 feet apart. When the ground is irregular in 
shape, undulating or hilly, or contains streams or 
lakes or valuable trees, these features may make it 
necessary to vary somewhat from the directions just 
given. After the general scheme has been studied 
out in connection with a topographical survey of 
the land selected, the roads can be staked out on the 
ground by eye with better eifect than if drawn first 
in an office. They should nearly always be curved 
to produce the most pleasing result, a curved drive- 
way being advisable because : (i) when the margins 
are properly planted, certain portions of the ground 
are always hidden, thus becoming more interesting ; 



296 LANDSCAPE-GARDENING 

(2) they insure varied eflFects of light and shade ; 

(3) they make the average distance from the ceme- 
tery entrance to the lots shorter than if one follows 
straight lines and turns right angles. 

An open tract, to begin with, is in many ways 
preferable to one that is thickly wooded, but groups 
of trees or single specimens that have broadened out 
in a natural way would be very valuable, since they 
would help to take away the naked, forbidding ap- 
pearance of land newly planted with young trees. 
On a vacant area, it is usually advisable to plant 
some large trees for the sake of immediate effect. 
These can be grouped about the entrance, a fork in 
the drives, the top of a hill, the margin of a lake, or 
other distinguishing position. The objection to a 
piece of land covered with thick woods is that the 
necessary thinning to secure sufficient open space will 
leave tall spindling trees, unused to exposure. These 
are not very attractive in themselves, are very likely 
to die, and are liable to be blown down. If there are 
thick woods in the land selected, the trees chosen to 
remain should be those that are healthiest and have 
the lowest branches. Occasionally, the trees removed 
may be cut off at the ground so that sprouts will spring 
from the roots and form beautiful bush-like specimens. 



CEMETERIES 297 



BUILDINGS AND PLANTING 

The necessary buildings will vary with the size 
of the cemetery, but they should always be modest 
in appearance and suitably embellished with shrub- 
bery and vines. The office would naturally be placed 
near the entrance to avoid unnecessary walking, but 
it should not be built immediately on the highway 
or public street (Fig. 56). The large stone or brick 
arch frequently over the gateway is usually too 
pretentious in appearance and not in keeping with 
the character of the grounds. A natural archway 
of living trees would be better. The chapel, if any, 
should be placed some distance within the grounds 
to give it greater seclusion and quietness. 

Whether there should be greenhouses or not is a 
question that should be answered in accordance with 
local conditions. It may merely be said that with 
the great variety of flowering trees and shrubs avail- 
able, as well as the thousands of hardy flowering 
herbaceous plants, most beautiful effects can be 
produced without the expense, the continual labor 
and the bare beds for more than half the year, which 
go with the construction of greenhouses and the use 
of bedding plants. Frequently, many of the trees, 



298 



LANDSCAPE-GARDENING 




CEMETERIES 299 

shrubs, and herbaceous plants needed may be found 
in the adjacent country. Thus, elms, maples, lin- 
dens, viburnums, and dogwoods may be moved from 
the edges of farm wood-lots and produce almost 
immediately an effect of age and beauty. To pre- 
vent intrusion, a fence along the boundary of a 
cemetery is necessary. This can be of wire hidden 
by a belt of trees and shrubbery, or it can be a sub- 
stantial wall (Fig. 57). 

No one would now make the cemetery dreary by 
confining the planting to spruces and weeping willows. 
On the contrary, every effort is devoted to securing 
bright cheerful eiTects by the selection of all kinds 
of flowering happy-looking plants. The modern 
cemetery becomes, in fact, a sort of arboretum. 
It includes some evergreens which are most suitably 
grouped along the boundary belt, and which should 
contain all kinds of hardy pines, as well as some of 
the more stiff and formal spruces and cedars. The 
planting of Norway spruces has in many places been 
overdone. The development of attractive landscapes 
in cemeteries is of so much importance that Mr. 
Strauch, the greatest cemetery designer whom we 
have had, used to call the present method "the 
landscape lawn plan." 



300 



LANDSCAPE-GARDENING 




CEMETERIES 301 

RULES FOR MAINTAINING CEMETERIES 

A landscape in the cemetery should improve with 
years of growth. It must first be intelligently de- 
signed, and then receive care and attention from 
someone familiar and in sympathy with the scheme 
adopted. To insure such attention, and to protect 
the interest of all lot-owners, as well as to maintain 
the dignity and character of a city of the dead, rule^ 
have been adopted by all leading cemeteries. These 
are the result of study and experience on the part 
of many men. At a meeting of the Association of 
American Cemetery Superintendents, held at Boston, 
in 1890, the following rules were recommended by a 
unanimous vote of those in attendance : 

Rule i. (This should be a general rule, stating the author- 
ity and conditions on which lots are sold and the restrictions 
on transfers. The rule, of course, would have to be varied 
according to conditions existing in each cemetery.) 

Rule 2. The trustees desire to leave the improvement of 
lots, as far as possible, to the taste of the owners ; but, in jus- 
tice to all, they reserve the right, given them by law, to exclude 
or remove from any lot any headstone, monument or other 
structure, tree, plant, or other object whatever which may 
conflict with the regulations, or which they shall consider in- 
jurious to the general appearance of the grounds ; but no trees 
growing within any lot shall be removed or trimmed without 
the consent of the trustees. 



302 LANDSCAPE-GARDENING 

Rule 3. Lot-owners may have planting or other work done 
on their lots at their expense, upon application to the superin- 
tendent. No workmen other than employees of the cemetery 
will be admitted to the cemetery except for the purpose of setting 
stonework. 

Rule 4. No iron or wire-work and no seats or vases will 
be allowed on lots, excepting by permission of the trustees, 
and when any article made of iron begins to rust the same shall 
be removed from the cemetery. 

Rule 5. The trustees desire to encourage the planting of 
trees and shrubbery, but, in order to protect the rights of all 
and to secure the best general results, they require that such 
planting shall be done only in accordance with the directions 
of the superintendent of the cemetery. 

Rule 6. No coping nor any kind of inclosure will be per- 
mitted. The boundaries of lots will be marked by corner- 
"stones, which will be set by the cemetery, at the expense 
of the lot-owner, with the centers upon the lines bounding the 
lot. Corner-stones must not project above the ground and 
must not be altered nor removed. 

Rule 7. No lots shall be filled above the established 
grade. 

Rule 8. All interments In lots shall be restricted to the 
members of the family or relations of the lot-owner. 

Rule 9. No disinterment will be allowed without the per- 
mission of the trustees, of the lot-owner, and of the next of kin 
of the deceased. 

Rule id. Mounds over graves should be kept low, not 
exceeding four inches in height ; and stone or other inclosures 
around graves will not be allowed. 

Rule ii. Foundations for all monuments, headstones, and 
the like, shall be built by the cemetery at the expense of the 
lot-owner and fifteen days' notice must be given for the build- 



CEMETERIES 303 

ing of foundations. The cost of the same must be paid in ad- 
vance. 

Rule 12. Every foundation must be at least as wide and 
as long as the base stone resting upon it, and must not project 
above the surface of the ground. All foundations must ex- 
tend as low as the bottom of the grave. 

Rule 13. Only one monument will be permitted on a 
family burial-lot. 

Rule 14. (This should be a rule limiting the height of the 
headstones, and the lower this limit is made the better. Even 
with the lawn is considered best.) 

Rule 15. All stone and marble works, monuments and 
headstones, must be accepted by the superintendent as being 
in conformity with the foregoing rules before being taken into 
the cemetery. 

Rule 16. No monument, headstone or coping, and no 
portion of any vault above ground shall be constructed of other 
material than cut stone or real bronze. No artificial material 
will be permitted. 

Rule 17. The trustees wish, as far as possible, to dis- 
courage the building of vaults, believing, with the best landscape- 
gardeners of the day, that they are generally injurious to the 
appearance of the grounds, and, unless constructed with great 
care, are apt to leak and are liable to rapid decay, and in course 
of time to become unsightly ruins. Therefore no vaults will 
be permitted to be built unless the designs for the same are ex- 
ceptionally good, and the construction is solid and thorough. 
The designs must be submitted to the trustees, and will not be 
approved unless the structure would, in their judgment, be an 
architectural ornament to the cemetery. 

Rule 18. Material for stone or marble work will not be 
allowed to remain in the cemetery longer than shall be strictly 
necessary, and refuse or unused material must be removed as 



304 LANDSCAPE-GARDENING 

soon as the work is completed. In case of neglect, such removal 
will be made by the cemetery at the expense of the lot-owner and 
contractor, who shall be severally responsible. No material 
of any kind will be received at the cemetery after 12 o'clock m. 
on Saturdays. 

Rule 19. The trustees shall have the right to make ex- 
ceptions from the foregoing rules in favor of designs which they 
consider exceptionally artistic and ornamental, and such ex- 
ceptions shall not be construed as a rescission of any rule. 

Rule 20. It shall be the duty and right of the trustees 
from time to time to lay out and alter such avenues and walks, 
and to make such rules and regulations for the government of 
the grounds as they may deem requisite and proper and calcu- 
lated to secure and promote the general object of the cemetery. 

Rule 21. The superintendent is directed to enforce the 
above regulations and to exclude from the cemetery any person 
willfully violating the same. 

Cemeteries should be established on a basis to 
enable those in authority to take uniforni care of 
the grounds for all time. The prices charged for 
lots should be high enough to enable a fund to be 
set aside that will yield an annual income sufficient 
to pay all necessary general expenses. In laying 
out a new cemetery, those in charge should seek the 
best advice available. Such advice should be based 
on a thorough knowledge of landscape-gardening 
and the special needs of burial-grounds. Much in- 
formation can be obtained by visiting Spring Grove, 
at Cincinnati, Ohio, generally recognized as the 



CEMETERIES 



30s 




Pic_ 58, — The Nobility of Trees and Background. A tomb with a 
satisfactory setting, and simple in all its details. 



3o6 LANDSCAPE-GARDENING 

pioneer of park-like cemeteries, and perhaps the 
best example in the world. Oakwoods Cemetery 
at Troy, New York, Swan Point at Providence, 
Rhode Island, and Forest Hills at Boston are prom- 
inent examples of landscape cemeteries. Graceland 
at Chicago, although smaller in area than those al- 
ready mentioned, contains some good landscape 
effects. Many other cemeteries in the vicinity of 
the large cities of the United States can be commended 
on account of the good taste displayed in them. 
There are others which, while containing many beau- 
tiful trees and expensive monuments, include also 
many fences, railings, copings, and hedges that serve 
as examples of what to avoid rather than to imitate. 
The leading cemeteries should keep pace with 
the best thought of the times, with the best theories 
of religion, science, and economics. They should be, 
as the name implies, sleeping-places, places of rest 
and freedom from intrusion. It seems natural that 
one should seek for such a place the very best pro- 
duction of landscape-art, where spreading lawns give 
a cheerful sunny effect ; where pleasing vistas show 
distant clouds orthe setting sun ; where branching trees 
give grateful shade (Fig. 58), furnish pleasing objects 
to look at, and places for birds to come each year and 



CEMETERIES 307 

sing again their welcome songs ; where blossoming 
shrubs delight the eye, perfume the air, and make 
attractive nesting-places. Such features may seem 
to exist more for the living than for the dead, but 
the living are the ones that need them. If it seems 
natural to choose a beautiful park for a sleeping-place, 
it seems incongruous to put into this picture obelisk 
after obelisk, stone posts and slabs of all shapes and 
sizes, and stone tombs. 

The problem presented to cemetery associations 
is how to secure the most pleasing combinations of 
growing plants, including trees, shrubs, flowers, and 
grass, the most satisfactory views, the most har- 
monious and restful park, for the cemetery is really 
a memorial park. 

COUNTRY CEMETERIES 

Often a country cemetery has a most forlorn and 
neglected appearance, being merely a combination 
of monuments and headstones, uncut grass, Irish 
junipers and spruces. This appearance is not due 
so much to lack of money as to sparsity of ideas. 
The cost of the monuments shows there has been 
money to spend, but there has not been an appreci- 
ation of beauty. In one neglected country cemetery, 



308 LANDSCAPE-GARDENING 

a beautiful ground-covering of a little euphorbia had 
killed out the grass. It was far better-looking than 
the uncut grass-covered areas, yet a farmer regretted 
its existence. Other areas were covered with myrtle 
(Finca minor) and were always green and beautiful. 
Where It Is not feasible to mow and water grass, the 
selection of various ground-covering plants, like 
those named, would serve well in its place. Par- 
tridge-berry, trailing juniper, bugle, Japanese spurge, 
lily-of-the-valley, two-leaved Solomon's seal, butter- 
and-eggs, wild violets, erythroniums, hepatlcas, and 
many other plants, serve well for a ground cover, 
some thriving in shade and others in the sun 

(Fig. 59)- 

With the growth of an appreciation of beautiful 
landscapes and planting effects in connection with 
homes, school grounds and highways. It is but natural 
that there should develop a country cemetery far 
more beautiful than any seen at present. 



CEMETERIES 



309 




Fig. 5y. — The Garden in tue Cemetery. Tulips under an oak. 



CHAPTER XVIII 

City and Regional Planning 

A NEW line of endeavor has appeared in the United 
States in recent years, known usually as city planning, 
but sometimes as city and regional planning. It has 
been undertaken by landscape-designers, architects, 
and engineers working individually or in conjunction. 
"Zoning" is intimately connected with city planning, 
but may be applied to cities that have already been 
planned and built or built without planning. Nearly 
all American cities have just grown by "additions." 
These have usually been planned in surveyors' offices 
without any consideration of the topography. A 
ravine or a hill has been divided into lots as though 
it were level ground. 

If it is worth while to plan a house, spending much 

time in studying the arrangement of the rooms, the 

location and size of windows and other details, and 

the fitting of the house to its proposed site, or to 

plan a school-house or a factory, it is certainly worth 

310 



CITY AND REGIONAL PLANNING 311 

while to spend much time in planning a city which 
will contain perhaps thousands of buildings and which 
will outlast a long series of structures erected upon 
the same site. The city plan should be studied with 
reference to the hills and valleys when these are found 
within its boundaries; with regard to the location 
of factories, warehouses, shops, residences, apart- 
ment buildings, offices, stores and public buildings, 
allowing room for the probable growth in each class 
of buildings ; studying it with reference to its con- 
nection with the surrounding country by means of 
the various highways, and also with reference to 
those localities not especially adapted to any of the 
purposes named, but very useful as parks, open 
spaces, forests, water views and glimpses into the 
open spaces outside of the city. Intelligent study 
with reference to the locations of the different 
classes of buildings and the streets and parks would 
have saved vast sums in construction and main- 
tenance, and, what is of even more importance, 
would have preserved and developed the beauty 
of cities. The fundamental beauty of a city, which 
depends on its arrangement of streets and its preser- 
vation of hills, valleys, streams, rivers, and lakes 
in all their natural loveliness, lasts for generations. 



312 LANDSCAPE-GARDENING 

The citizens of a city that is wisely planned for the 
preservation and development of its beauty do not 
leave it to go to other more attractive cities when 
they have acquired a competence. When they 
travel, no matter how far, they come back with the 
feeling that they are glad to get home. A common 
remark on such occasions is, ''This city looks good to 
me. I am willing to live and die right here." 

It is this feeling of pride in one's own town or 
neighborhood, a feeling that one is identified with it, 
is, in fact, a part of it, and^ in a measure, responsible 
for it, that is important. This feeling of identifica- 
tion with one's surroundings should extend from 
the city to the country and from the country to the 
city ; a farmer thinking of the neighboring town as 
being, to a certain extent, his, and the dweller in 
the city having a corresponding feeling with regard 
to the country. Each should try to help the other. 

The city planner, therefore, should take into con- 
sideration the mutual dependence of the city and 
country on each other and design a territory imme- 
diately outside of the city limits. This has long been 
the custom in England, where planning commissions 
have control of the location of new streets far be- 
yond city boundaries. 



CITY AND REGIONAL PLANNING 313 

When city planning was first discussed in America, 
the subject most frequently mentioned was "civic 
centers." By this was meant an orderly convenient 
arrangement of the post-office, city-hall, court-house, 
and other public buildings with regard to each other 
and to the remainder of the city, of which the group 
named would form the heart or center. 

Usually, however, American cities that have re- 
ceived treatment at the hands of city planners are 
already blessed with city-halls and the other public 
buildings naturally associated with civic centers. 
To make changes regarding them would be very ex- 
pensive, and, usually, even if such changes are 
deemed advisable, they can be made as well at some 
future time. In the outskirts of a city, however, 
where it is growing, the need for wise planning is 
urgent, since delay here may prevent forever the 
adoption of the best locations for streets or the best 
regulations for the development of the land. It is 
here that there may still be a chance to save a 
stream, a wooded hillside, an Indian mound, or other 
historic or natural feature. It is here that the 
change in the location of a street may save expense 
in construction and forever add to the beauty and 
convenience of the lots on either side. It is here 



3 14 LANDSCAPE-GARDENING 

that suitable areas may be saved for residences, 
factories, school-houses, parks, churches, and all the 
different classes of buildings or spaces that will be 
required in the city. 

While city planning, which takes into account the 
probable growth of a city, the requirements of all 
its diiferent kinds of business and residences, its 
schools and other public buildings, its parks and 
playgrounds and its connection with the country 
and other cities, is comparatively new in this coun- 
try, landscape-gardeners have long been called on 
to plan suburbs or villages, or special areas, called 
subdivisions or allotments. 

Clifton and Walnut Hills of Cincinnati, and Lake 
Forest and Riverside near Chicago, may be cited 
as examples. The planning of such areas has usually 
been primarily for residences, although, sometimes, 
sites for school-houses and churches have been desig- 
nated. Those qualifications which would fit a man 
for planning intelligently home grounds would nat- 
urally qualify him for laying out a collection of such 
grounds. It is in the outskirts of a town, the places 
where homes are being developed, that the services 
of a landscape-gardener are especially needed. 

The steps to be taken in planning a subdivision 



CITY AND REGIONAL PLANNING 315 

may be mentioned in the order in which they should 
be taken. 

(i) A visit to the property and a talk with its 
owner and the city authorities regarding proper 
sizes of lots, width of streets, probable requirements 
for school grounds, parks and other public needs. 
Some cities now require that a certain percentage 
of the land be set aside for parks or playgrounds. 
While such a provision is better than none, it would 
not always result in choosing land that is best adapted 
to park purposes. 

(2) Assuming that the general problems mentioned 
in (i) are satisfactorily settled so that the only ques- 
tions remaining are those of actually planning for 
streets and lots, the next step would be the prepara- 
tion of a plat based on a topographical survey. Such 
a plat should show the lie of the land by contour lines, 
the contour interval depending somewhat on the 
nature of the land and the character of the proposed 
development. Usually, it is from one to live feet. 
The contour intervals should be uniform so that the 
contours will indicate at a glance the relative steep- 
ness of the surface in different parts of the property. 
They would show at once the location of ravines and 
other inequalities. 



3 16 LANDSCAPE-GARDENING 

The plat should also indicate bodies of water, 
rock ledges, outlines of woods, and special trees or 
other objects which can be determined easily and 
definitely. With such a plat in hand, the landscape- 
gardener should be able promptly to locate his 
position upon it while studying the land itself. The 
topographical plat can be made by the landscape- 
gardener or someone from his office, or by a surveyor. 
In making the survey, the stadia method is the most 
economical and the best. Dividing the land up 
into squares with stakes at the corners is useful for 
some purposes, but generally the stakes are lost so 
that it is difficult, without going over the work of 
surveying a second time, to find one's location on the 
property. The making of a topographical survey 
by means of squares is slow and expensive. It is 
always a satisfaction, when looking at a topograph- 
ical plat and seeing some special object like a big 
rock, a thirty-inch sycamore tree, or a spring, to be 
able to look on the land itself and see definitely the 
object indicated. It is unsatisfactory to find on 
the plat a special object, like a twelve-inch black 
oak, and discover on the land a dozen such oaks near 
the location designated, any one of which might be 
the tree that had been surveyed. Either all the 



CITY AND REGIONAL PLANNING 317 

trees should be indicated as accurately as possible, 
or the one shown must be so distinct from the others 
that there will be no question as to its identity. 

(3) With the topographical plat in hand, the land- 
scape-gardener can soon decide on a general scheme 
of subdivision which he would recommend to the 
owner of the property, and this can be sketched on 
a print of the survey and then discussed with all 
parties interested. 

(4) As soon as the plan is agreed on, either as 
sketched, or with such modifications as may be 
adopted, it is advisable actually to stake out the 
center lines of proposed streets by the method de- 
scribed under Home Grounds (see page 128). The 
reason for staking the center line of a proposed street 
upon the ground before definitely drawing it on a 
plat is that by so doing it will more accurately fit 
the land and be more pleasing in its curves. A curV'e 
drawn on a plat will usually appear too pronounced 
on the ground, because, in the latter case, it will in 
appearance be very much foreshortened. Other 
reasons for staking the line on the ground first are : 
(a) The valuable trees or shrubs may be saved or 
left in such positions that they will be effective with 
regard to the proposed street; (b) advantage may 



3 1 8 LANDSCAPE-GARDENING 

be taken of fine views which would not be appre- 
ciated when merely looking at a plat ; (c) the topog- 
raphy itself will be better appreciated when seen 
full size than when drawn to a scale which must 
necessarily be small. 

(5) With the center lines of streets staked on the 
land, these lines can be surveyed and shown accu- 
rately on a plat. The plat should indicate the 
curved lines by offsets from the sides of a polygon 
whose angles and sides lie within the boundary lines 
of the proposed streets. It is a great mistake to re- 
quire that the curves shall be arcs of circles as in the 
case of railroads. Often a good curve has been 
spoiled by attempting to make it fit this require- 
ment. 

(6) With streets definitely located, the next step 
in the preparation of a plat is the subdivision of 
the property into lots. If the land is vacant and 
comparatively level and featureless, this work can 
be done in an office, but if there are existing trees, 
great variation of surfaces, rocky ledges or attractive 
views, it is advisable actually to go on the land, select 
a site for each house, putting in a stake at what would 
be its approximate center, and then locate these 
stakes and put them on the plat. This method will 



CITY AND REGIONAL PLANNING 319 

enable one to picture in his mind the appearance of 
the land when occupied by houses. He will know 
that a desirable view, as seen from one house, will 
not be cut off by the construction of houses on other 
lots. Planning in this way will insure for the future 
residents of the subdivision in question as great ad- 
vantages as should be derived by all the dwellers of 
a city from careful city planning. 

(7) Having finally made a plan showing streets 
and lots, with locations for houses, other plats can 
be made showing pavements, sidewalks, profiles of 
streets, cross-sections, methods of surface drainage, 
and location of planting. In staking out the streets, 
the designer has naturally in mind the grades to be 
adopted, and has tested these by means of a hand 
level to ascertain that a grade within the adopted 
limits is feasible. If there are existing trees on the 
land that is being studied, these will be taken into 
consideration in preparing a planting plan and also 
in fixing the profiles of roadways. Often, by chang- 
ing the grade of a roadway slightly from that which 
would naturally be adopted on entirely vacant land, 
a good tree standing in the parkway can be saved, 
and it is usually possible to change the grade without 
making the road too steep or the profile unpleasant. 



320 LANDSCAPE-GARDENING 

The planting plan will show existing growth, espe- 
cially along the street borders, and also the trees 
and shrubs that are to be planted. With large 
lots, in addition to showing the site for the house, 
It is often advisable to indicate the proper location 
for the entrance drive and the garage and perhaps 
some suggestion of the arrangement of open spaces 
about the house. 

The chapters on plant materials, planting arrange- 
ment, and thoroughfares contain information appli- 
cable to the planting plans for subdivisions. 

The cost of grading and making other improve- 
ments in a subdivision planned in accordance with 
the directions given in this chapter should be rela- 
tively small, that is, much less than by ordinary 
methods, while the beauty of an area developed along 
the natural lines described would give pleasure to 
generations yet to come. 



APPENDIX 



Two papers by the late Bryan Lathrop (1844-1916), president of Graceland 
Cemetery Co., trustee of estates and of the Art Institute of Chicago, 
patron of literature and art, president of the Chicago Orchestral Associa- 



tion. 



321 



A PLEA FOR LANDSCAPE-GARDENING 

The intelligent traveler observes one very striking difference 
between Europe and America. 

In Europe he sees almost everywhere evidences of a sense of 
beauty. In America, almost everywhere he is struck by the 
want of it. In Europe, and in Asia too, the work of man adds 
to the beauty of the picturesqueness of scenery. In America, it 
usually makes a blot upon it. I do not conclude from this 
that the American people have no sense of beauty, but only 
that in the mass it has not been cultivated. The mass is igno- 
rant of beauty. In this new country of ours the struggle for 
existence has been intense, and the practical side of life has 
been developed while the aesthetic side has lain dormant. 

To awaken this great nation to a love of the beauties of na- 
ture is, therefore, a mission of the first importance, and the 
time is ripe for the work. Signs of awakening are to be seen 
on every side, but much depends on the direction to be given 
to these new impulses of a people still in the main groping in 
the dark. Where shall we look for this direction ? Obviously, 
I think, to Landscape-Gardening. 

Landscape-Gardening is one of the rarest and greatest of the 
fine arts, but the one which has been least understood or appre- 
ciated. If it is an art to paint a landscape on a small canvas 
with brushes and paints, is it less an art to make a picture on 
broad acres, using for material God's own earth, grass, trees, 
shrubs, and flowers ? As a nation we have yet to learn that 
such an art exists. 

323 



324 APPENDIX 

Only last year when I suggested taking the advice of a highly 
trained landscape-gardener, one of the most intelligent women 
of my acquaintance asked me if "anyone could not plant a 
tree?" Any one can build a house, but is the result good 
architecture ? Any one can apply paint to a canvas, but is 
the result a pleasing picture ? 

Landscape-Gardening is not only one of the noblest of the 
fine arts, but in its perfection it is one of the most difficult. 

When the architect, the painter, and the sculptor have done 
their work it is as complete and perfect as the artist can make 
it. Not so with the landscape-gardener. He must plant with 
the eye of a prophet, for it requires many years to bring to 
perfection the picture which he has imagined. He must know 
the character of every tree and shrub, the size, shape, and color 
which it will have at maturity. 

If he has designed his landscape with prophetic skill, it will 
grow in beauty year by year, intensifying the varieties of sur- 
face, creating vistas in which imagination delights ; the masses 
of trees and shrubs will have assumed pyramidal form, con- 
trasting or harmonizing each with the other; and the nature 
foliage will have acquired that exquisite blending of tones 
which is the despair of the painter. 

The ideal landscape-gardener should have a vast range of 
knowledge. He must be a botanist, and he must know the 
nature, the habits of growth, of trees, shrubs, and plants, and 
those which are adapted to each region ; he should know the 
chemistry of horticulture, and the nature of soils ; he should 
be an engineer, as the basis of his work is the grading and 
shaping of the earth's surface ; he should have a knowledge of 
architecture, as his work will often make or mar the work of 
the architect; and finally he must be an artist to the tips of his 
fingers ; the more artistic he is the better landscape-gardener 
he will be. 



APPENDIX 325 

His life is devoted to a reverent and loving study of the 
most beautiful effects of nature and to the work of reproducing 
them for the pleasure of man. 

My conclusion, then, is that we must look to landscape- 
gardening for our inspiration in the new gospel of natural 
beauty. It will teach us how a background of trees and a few 
vines trained by loving hands will transform the baldest cottage 
into a charming feature of a landscape. 

The wild growth along a country roadside may be as lovely 
as anything painted by Rousseau. Let us teach the farmer 
to see its beauty and to leave it untouched. 

The Women's Clubs have undertaken a noble work in teach- 
ing the people to see and to love beautiful things. May their 
efforts be crowned with success. May they redeem our coun- 
try from the curse of bare and bald ugliness in the work of 
man. May the time come soon when our streets shall be lined 
with trees and shrubs ; when front yards, and back yards too, 
shall be softened by masses of flowering shrubs ; and when 
the farmhouses, the cottages, and the factories along our rail- 
ways shall be redeemed by spreading trees and by shrubbery 
and creeping vines ; when the European traveler in this coun- 
try may be as much delighted by its beauty as he is now Im- 
pressed by its prosperity. 

PARKS AND LANDSCAPE-GARDENING 

A paper read at the Boston meeting of the American Park and Outdoor Art 

Association 

My first experience as a park commissioner was a surprise 
and a shock. 

For about eight years Lincoln Park had been given over to 
the' politicians, with the usual result, — extravagance, mis- 
management, neglect and decay. The new board of com- 



326 APPENDIX 

missioners was pledged to the reformation of abuses and the 
restoration of the park. Our success depended upon securing 
a man eminently qualified to be superintendent. He was to 
take the place once filled so ably by Mr. Pettigrew, who now 
has charge of the model park system of this country. We 
were deluged with letters recommending for superintendent a 
very estimable gentleman, a retired quartermaster of the United 
States army, who had every qualification for the office except 
one ; he knew nothing of the making and care of parks ; noth- 
ing of soils and fertilizers ; of artistic grading; of planting and 
pruning; of the maintenance of lawns ; of the nature and habits 
of trees and shrubs, or the effect of time on their form and color 
in masses ; in short, he had no knowledge of even the rudi- 
mentary principles of landscape-gardening. The letters of 
recommendation came from presidents of railways and of banks, 
and leading men of affairs and in the learned professions ; and 
in all these letters there was not one word about landscape- 
gardening or a suggestion that any knowledge of it is a requisite 
in the management of parks. 

It was this that surprised and shocked me. 

The writers of them are fairly representative of the country 
at large, since it is well known that few men of middle age in 
Chicago were born or brought up there. Let us consider for a 
moment what a park should be. 

The true function of a park is to afford a refuge to the dwellers 
in cities where they may escape from the sights and sounds 
and associations of the city ; where the eye may feast on the 
beauties of nature, and where the body and mind may relax 
and find repose. Therefore, beware of the engineer, the archi- 
tect and the sculptor, lest their work usurp undue prominence 
and interfere with the true function of the park. 

To erect in a park buildings, bridges, or other structures which 
are not absolutely essential, or to make them more conspicuous 



APPENDIX 327 

than is unavoidable; to multiply statues; or to introduce 
unnecessary formal or architectural features, is to defeat the first 
object of the park, to bring ruthlessly before the mind the image 
of the city from which one has sought to escape; it is a blun- 
der, an impertinence, a crime. 

A park then should consist of natural objects, turf, water, 
trees and shrubs, arranged by the art and skill of man so as to 
afford the greatest possible pleasure and enjoyment to the 
people, with no artificial objects which are not essential to 
their comfort or convenience. 

To which of the arts does this work belong ? Is it landscape- 
gardening ^ This brings me to a vital question. 

Is landscape-gardening one of the fine arts, or is it only a 
bi-product of the arts, unworthy of the lifelong devotion of a 
serious mind ? 

One is almost forced to believe that its professors are ashamed 
of it. Few of them even call themselves landscape-gardeners 
any more, but "Landscape Architects," and latterly I have 
found some classified simply as "Architects." The Oxford 
dictionary defines an architect as "a master builder; a skilled 
professor of the art of building, whose business it is to prepare 
the plans of edifices, and exercise a general superintendence 
over the course of their erection." I would not quarrel about 
the name unless there is an idea behind it. I fear that the 
name is only one of many indications of a tendency to introduce 
into landscape-gardening a formalism based on architectural 
lines and principles which, if not checked, will very soon debase 
and degrade it. Is landscape-gardening one of the fine arts ? 

It may seem presumption in a layman to express an opinion 
on this subject; but there is a grain of truth in the proverbial 
advantage of the looker-on at a game. Ever since I wandered 
as a lad through the parks and gardens of Europe, I have had 
a love for landscape-gardening, and have been as closely in 



328 APPENDIX 

touch with it as a layman can be. I believe that landscape- 
gardening is not only one of the fine arts, but that it is one of 
the greatest of them, and that it has possibilities of develop- 
ment of which the others are absolutely incapable. 

Landscape art — which includes landscape painting and 
landscape gardening — holds a unique and distinguished posi- 
tion. It is the only one of the arts of design which in the nine- 
teenth century made any progress beyond the achievements 
of the great artistic periods of history. All of the others have 
distinctly retrograded. Sculpture is now only the pale shadow 
of the age of Pericles. The heroic style of painting which deals 
with religious, historical, and ideal subjects has produced noth- 
ing within a hundred years which ranks with the work of the 
Italian Renaissance. 

Architecture as a creative art has ceased to exist. In the 
place of the mighty builders of the past we now have schools 
of architecture which formulate rules based on their work; 
and the best architects of our age are the most successful 
copyists. When an attempt is made to depart from the formu- 
las of the schools we have such "architectural aberrations" as 
"L'Art Nouveau," of Paris, or the "Secession Styl," of Vienna. 

Landscape painting, however, has made great strides in 
advance of Salvator Rosa, the best of the Italians, and of the 
Poussins and Claude Lorrain, the best of the old French schools. 

Landscape gardening has made equal progress in the last 
century and is even more in advance of earlier ages than the 
Barbizon school of landscape painting is in advance of the 
Renaissance. 

I believe that the explanation of this is not far to seek. A 
love of nature for her own sake is distinctly modern. Even 
the greatest of the Renaissance poets show less feeling than 
those of the Victorian age for the charms and loveliness of 
natural scenery. It is hardly more than a hundred years since 



APPENDIX 329 

painters first began to see nature as she is and to paint land- 
scapes truthfully and without artificial features. Until modern 
times landscape-gardening was modeled exclusively on the old 
formal gardens of Italy. The terraces which were required on 
the steep sides of the Italian hills were transplanted to the 
plains of Versailles and to the gentle slopes of England. You 
all know the famous old gardens of Italy and the continent. 
You remember the balustrades ; the paved terraces ; the 
straight walks between clipped hedges, and the straight avenues, 
ending in the inevitable bad statue or silly fountain; the 
childish surprises of objects which suddenly cover you with 
spray. If, by chance, you come upon a charming bit of turf, 
with masses of flowering shrubs and trees not in lines and left 
to grow untrimmed, you are told — it may be in Italian or 
German or Spanish or French — that this is the "English 
Garden"; and you say to yourself, "God bless it!" There 
is a touch of nature in it. 

Now, I ask you, are we to ignore the glorious progress of the 
nineteenth century and go back to this .? Instead of striving 
to carry landscape-gardening to perfection along the natural 
lines on which it has made its greatest growth, are we deliber- 
ately to give up all that the world has gained, and go back for 
our models to the dark ages of landscape-gardening when it was 
wholly artificial and unnatural, ages before it had grown to be 
a fine art ? I cannot believe it. 

Hence I deprecate the tendency of to-day toward a stiff and 
unlovely formalism in landscape design. I protest against it 
because I believe that it will lead to the decadence of a most 
glorious art which it would reduce to the condition of modern 
Italian sculpture, mere technique without spirit, a body with- 
out a soul. 

If you think that I exaggerate, I beg you to look over one of 
the most popular of recent books on landscape-gardening, — 



330 APPENDIX 

"Gardens Old and New." Turn to the illustration of "formal 
gardens" and of formal designs; look at them with a thought 
in your minds of some lovely effects of planting done by nature 
or by some man who loved her, and tell yourselves honestly 
what you think of the new-old art. These designs were made 
with a foot-rule, a straight-edge, and a pair of compasses, and 
might have been made by an architect, for in his legitimate 
profession he needs no other tools. 

We Americans are a fickle people and are much inclined to 
change our fashions, not only in dress, but in more serious 
things. It is this desire for a change for the sake of a change 
which has prevented the normal development of architecture 
and stunted the growth of every style in its early youth ; but 
we are also quick to learn and quick to adopt any new thing 
which is good. The love of the beautiful has only recently 
begun to develop in this country and the taste of the people is 
in a formative state and they are just beginning to realize that 
such an art as landscape-gardening exists. The architects have 
done much to improve the taste of the dwellers in cities ; but 
only landscape-gardening can reach the great mass of the 
nation and elevate their taste by teaching them to appreciate 
the charming things growing wild about them, and ultimately 
to appreciate everything that is beautiful in nature and art. 

A heavy responsibility rests on the leaders in landscape- 
gardening. They can check the vagaries and inanities which 
are creeping into it, and which, unchecked, will prove its ruin, 
and will have a far-reaching effect in giving the nation a false 
and perverted taste. They, and they alone, can correct its 
decadent tendencies and maintain the standard which entitles 
it to rank among the fine arts, and which will lead to its highest 
development. 

Michael Angelo gave up painting in oils and adopted frescos 
and architecture because they gave a wider scope for his tre- 



APPENDIX 331 

mendous energies. I sometimes dream that another Michael 
Angelo will rise among us and that he will find in landscape- 
gardening the widest scope for the exercise of a mighty creative 
genius. 

In this young country, with its exuberant energy, its increas- 
ing wealth, and the development of good taste and a love of the 
beautiful, the opportunities which the future of landscape- 
gardening has in store for a great artistic genius seem almost 
boundless. With vast wealth at his command, and, for ma- 
terials, the earth, the sky, mountains, lakes, rivers, waterfalls, 
forests and the flora of the whole earth, and with vistas bounded 
by the limits of human sight, he can create pictures which will 
be to natural scenery what the Hermes at Olympia is to the 
natural man, not copies, but the assemblage of the perfections 
of nature, beside which the greatest works of other arts will 
seem as small as the oil paintings despised by Michael Angelo 
beside the dome of St. Peter's. 

If landscape-gardening remains true to its mission, to de- 
light the eye and heart of man by reproducing nature at her 
best, this I believe to be her destiny, and then architecture 
will be her willing handmaiden. 



INDEX 



Acidity, 43. 

Advertising, 39. 

Air in soil, 44. 

Altruism, 29. 

American garden, 165. 

Appearances, some persons indifferent 

to, 2. 
Arboretums : 

distribution of, 285. 

more needed, 282. 

open space in, 283. 

roads and walks in, 283. 

some native forest in, desirable, 284. 

varied topography, 283. 
Arboretums and Botanic Gardens, 281. 
Architecture and landscape gardening, 

Arid regions favored with views, 187, 

188. 
Arnold Arboretum, 281. 
Arnold Arboretum, oaks in, 68. 
Arrangement of planting, 58. 
Art expression, 19. 

in architecture, 21. 

in literature, 21. 

in music, 20. 

in painting and graphic arts, 21, 22. 

in sculpture, 20. 
Artificial lakes, 106-108. 

bloom, sequence of , for borders, 116, 
117. 

color in border planting, 115. 

dams. III. 

deposits in, 1 10. 

fish in, 112. 

islands in, 116. 

location for, no. 

mosquitoes, 113. 

plants appropriate for border, 113. 



Artificial lakes — Cont. 
shaping banks, 113. 
waterproofing, 112. 

Bacteria, 44. 

Bailey, L. H., quotation from, 185. 

Balance, 11, 12. 

Beauty : 

destruction of, 27. 

how it pays, 2, 22. 
Billboards, 23, 31, 33. 
Botanic Gardens, 286. 

combined with arboretums and 
forest preserves, 288. 

Care of plant materials, 78. 
Cemeteries, 290. 

advantages of curved drives in, 295. 

buildings in, 297. 

care of, 304. 

in relation to health, 292. 

in relation to open tracts and wooded 
areas, 296. 

in the country, 307. 

planting in, 299. 

roads in, 293. 

rules for, 301. 

subdivision of, 293. 

walks in, 295. 
Cemeteries in relation to progress, 

306. 
City and Regional Planning, 310. 

importance of, 310-312. 
City Planning : 

civic centers, 313. 

in the outskirts, 313. 

undertaken by landscape designers, 
architects and engineers, 310. 
City schools, 33. 



333 



334 



INDEX 



City Squares, 253. 

planting of, 254-256. 
City Streets, 217. 

billboards, 221, 223. 

curved and angular streets, 220. 

grouping trees, 218. 

planting space in center of street, 
219. 

space between buildings and street 
lines, 218. 

street arrangement, 219, 220. 

views from city Into country along 
streets, 220. 
Collier, Price, quotation from, 171. 
Coloring, 47, 49. 
Composition, 13. 
Country, as a retreat, 23. 

definition, i. 
Country parks, 256. 
County parks, 258. 
Croquet, 242. 
Cultivation, 80. 
Curiosity, value of, 13-15. 
Curved roads, advantages of, 193, 194. 

Dams, comparison of locations for, 

loi, 102. 
Dawson, Jackson, 68. 
Distance, obtaining effect of, 64. 
Drives, 132. 

combination of walk and drive, 134. 
diversion from direct route some- 
times allowable, 132. 
location, 132. 
planting along, to control view of 

house, 134. 
staking lines of, on desired grade, 

136-138. 
surface, 134. 
Dynamite, 44. 

Each for all, 29. 

Engineer and landscape gardener, 103, 

104. 
Erosion, 27, 45, 93. 
Evergreens, 48, 49. 



Farm buildings, 32. 

plan for, 173. 

planting In connection with, 173. 
Farm forest, 176. 
Farmer, 22, 23. 
Farmhouse, location of, 171. 
Farm life, 182, 183. 

importance of to nation, 170, 171. 
Farm orchard and other features, 182. 
Farms, 32, 170. 

features of, that are beautiful, 181. 
Farm tools, 33. 
Farm wood-lot : 

advantages of, 177, 178. 

need not be rectangular, 179. 

original forest growth, 178. 

pasturing, 179. 

selecting trees for, 179. 

starting with seedlings, 180, 181. 
Ferns, 56. 
Fertilizers, 45. 
Flower gardens, 153. 

Italian, 156. 

location for, 155. 

subordinate to front yard, 154. 

wild, 155. 
Flowers, 55, 56. 
Fog, 65. 
Forests, 36. 
Forests along streams, management 

of, 95-97- 
Forests, destruction of, 26-29. 
Forest preserves, 250. 

and timber, 252. 

care of, 251. 

native growth important, 250, 251. 

roads in, 252. 
"Forest waters the Farm," quotation 

from, 36. 
Forking, 82. 
Fountains, 87. 
Front yards : 

definition of, 141. 

feeling of repose, 152. 

final result, 150. 

flowers, 152. 

grading, 146-148. 



INDEX 



335 



Front yards — Cont. 

ground covering, 143, 146, 148. 
joining floor of, with surrounding 

growth, 146. 
public, in relation to, 152. 
removal of top soil, 148. 
rock ledges, 148. 
sky-lines, 142. 
small yards, 153. 
sundial, 152. 

surrounding growth of foliage, 143. 
trees and shrubs, selection of, 144, 

I4S- 

tying house to site, 149. 
winter efi'ect, 143. 

Garages, 138. 

Gardens (see Flower gardens) 

(see Vegetable gardens) 
Gardens, 56. 
Girdling trees, 81. 
Glacial action, 40. 
Golf in public parks, 243. 
Golf: 

in relation to forest preserves, 270. 

in relation to public parks, 269. 

should be encouraged, 271. 
Golf Grounds, 263. 

arrow golf, 269. 

boundaries, 265. 

club-house, in relation to, 264. 

farms, in relation to, 268. 

may contain gardens, 268. 

may often contain beautiful scenery, 
263. 
Ground covering, 43. 
Grounds of Railway Stations and 

Rights of Way, 224. 
Grouping, 66. 

Harmony, 13. 

Hawthorns in pasture, 180. 

Heaths, 42, 43. 

Hedges, 161. 

Herbaceous Flowering Plants, 55. 

Highways, 33. 

Hills, emphasis of, 58. 



Hillside road, 199. 
Hillsides, 34. 

Hirst, A. R., State Highway Engineer 
of Wisconsin, statement from, 

193- 
Hobbies, 34, 35, 155. 
Home Grounds, 118. 

bearing of existing trees on house 
location, 122. 

drives, 132. 

facing house, 122. 

flower gardens, 153. 

front yards, 141. 

garages, 138. 

purposes served by, 119. 

selecting site for house, 120. 

service yards, 140. 

walks, 124. 
Homes, 34. 

House (see Home Grounds) 
Houses : 

location of, 188. 

surroundings of, 161. 
How to plant, 68. 

Ice, 39. 

Ice-houses, 27, 39. 
Imagination, 17. 
Irregularity, charm of, 59-61. 
Islands, 116. 

Japan, flower arrangement in, 16. 

Lake shores, 23. 

Lakes, 34 (see Artificial lakes). 

boat-houses, 105. 

ice-houses, 104. 

margins of, 31. 

natural, wave action along shores, 
107. 

summer cottages, 105. 

vegetation along margins, 104. 

walls, 105, 106. 
Land, 40. 

composition of, 40. 

elements of, 42, 43. 

shape of, 42. 



336 



INDEX 



Landscape, a moving picture, 7. 
Landscape architect, the term, 17. 
Landscape composition, rules for, 8- 

15- 

Landscape, creation of, may require 

years, 7. 
Landscape designer, the term, 18. 
Landscape engineer, the term, 18. 
Landscape features treated in accord- 
ance with local conditions, 190. 
Landscape-gardener, aims, compensa- 
tion and equipment, 24, 25. 
basis of success, 8. 
his work compared with that of 
painter, 6, 7. 
Landscape-gardening : 
aims of, i. 

and general culture, 16. 
definitions, 3. 
for arid and semi-arid regions, 

.185- 
given special impetus about 1800, 

3- 
Landscape painter, power of, 4. 
Landscaper, the term, 19. 
Leaves, 47, 49. 
as mulch, 51. 
Lichens, 57. 
Lime, 42. 

Marshes, 84. 

insure open space, 84. 

marginal growth of, 85. 

three ways of treating, 85. 
Mill-ponds, 31. 
Mosses, 57. 
Mount Auburn, 290. 
Mystery, value of, 13-15. 

National parks, 261. 

should be established in eastern 
states, 261, 262. 
Natural resources, destruction of, 26. 
Natural sciences, 16. 
Nature appeals to various senses, 16. 
Nature as teacher, 6, 42, 63. 
Nature, universal beauty of, 2. 



Neighborhood centers, 33. 
Nitrogen, 43. 

Orchards, 22. 

Paine, Thomas, quotation from, I. 
Painter, landscape, method of working, 

4- 

Palissy, Edward, quotation from, 37. 
Pictures, 64. 

Park commissions, 248-250. 
Parks, 232. 

as a place of rest, 233. 

boating and canoeing, in relation to, 
246. 

bridle paths, in relation to, 245. 

buildings, in relation to, 245, 246. 

drives and walks, in relation to, 242. 

games, in relation to, 242. 

give opportunity for exercise, 237. 

golf, in relation to, 243. 

how made accessible, 236, 237. 

in relation to crowds, 244. 

intelligence of employees in, 243. 

may serve as arboretums, 247. 

purposes served by, 232. 

should preserve attractive scenery, 

234, 235- _ 
swimming, in relation to, 246. 
Parks and native forest, 240. 
Parks, Forest Preserves, City Squares, 

232. 
Parks, gun clubs, natural history 

societies and museums, 248. 
Parks in relation to country and 

vicinity, 239. 
Park work should be done on the 

ground, 240. 
Planning a park, 237. 
Plant materials, 46, 78. 
Planting about houses, 189. 
as a screen, 66, 67. 
bushes and herbs, 76. 
proper season for, 77. 
rules for, 174-176. 
to hold land, 45. 
with frozen ball, 77. 



INDEX 



337 



Plants, for localities destitute of, 187. 

in reference to seasons, 65. 

in rows, 59. 

often care for themselves, 78. 

selection of, 45. 
"Plant thick and thin quick," 63. 
Point of view, 9, 10. 
Practical gardener, powers of, 3. 
Prairie road, 211. 
Production, 39. 
Profiles of roads, 195. 
Protozoa, 44. 
Public Thoroughfares, 192. 

Railway Rights of Way, 229. 

Ravines, 42. 

Repetition, 13. 

Repton, quotation from, 3. 

River banks, 23. 

River road, 206. 

Rivers, 34, 97. 

arrangement of buildings along, 
98. 

as sources of water power, lOi. 

in cities, 97. 

refuse on banks of, 97. 

street bordering, 98-101. 
Road (see Hillside road. River road, 

Prairie road). 
Roadside planting, 197, 198. 
Robinson, Charles Mulford, reference 

to, 217. 
Rubbish, 31. 

Sand blown by winds, 45. 
Sand dunes, 40, 45. 
School Grounds, 33, 273. 

as neighborhood centers, 276. 

in cities, 278-280. 

in the country, 273. 

planting, in relation to, 276-278. 
Sculpture, 42. 
Sculpture and landscape gardening, 

15- 

Seedlings, 69. 
Seeds, 68. 
Service yards, 140. 



Shade, 47. 
Shrubs, 50. 

as a border, 51-53. 

as a screen, 50-51. 

care of, 51. 

grass under, 51. 

trimming of, 51, 80. 
Sky, the background of landscape, 6. 
Sky-line, 47, 65, 142, 178. 

in winter, 143, 144. 
Smoke, 103, 222, 228, 254. 
Soil, adaptation of, 43. 
Space, 65. 
Spring Grove Cemetery, Cincinnati, 

304- 
Springs, 22, 86. 
State parks, 260. 
Station grounds : 

convenience of, 226. 

importance of, 224. 

planting of, 226. 
Station grounds and railway employees, 

228. 
Streams, 32, 34, 88. 

adv'isability of retaining a border of 
forest growth, 94. 

parkway along border of, 89. 

pollution of, 30. 

public forests along borders, 95. 

usual history of, near cities, 90. 

walks along border of, 91. 
Street corners, radius of curvature for, 

195. 
Streets, 34. 
Subdivisions, planning of, 315. 

dividing into lots, 318. 

planting plan, 320. 

saving trees and shrubs, 317. 

staking out roads, 317. 

surveying roads as staked, 318. 

topographical plats, 316. 

Teaching a client, 151. 

Tennis, 242. 

Terms, discussion of, 17-19. 

Terraces, 159. 

Thoroughfares and section lines, 193. 



338 



INDEX 



Thoroughfares important in appear- 
ance of country, 192. 
Township parks, 257. 
Trees, 47. 

anchoring of, 75. 

beauty of when young, 70. 

buttresses, 73, 74. 

care of newly planted, 74. 

cutting out, 64. 

for sandy land, 45. 

in winter, 49. 

large, plant high, 73. 

often planted too deep, 71. 

planting large-sized, 72. 

planting medium-sized, 70. 

rapidity of growth, 68, 69. 

surface drainage, 74. 

topping, 81. 

trimming, 71-73, 80. 

Underbrush, 241. 
Unity, 8-1 1. 

Vegetable gardens, 158. 

Vines, effect on host, 55. 

ground covering, 55. 



Walks, 124. 

ditches along side, 131. 

drainage, 126. 

grade of, 125. 

how to locate, 124, 125. 

how to stake, 128. 

interruptions, 131. 

lawn at edge of, 131, 132. 

profile, 129. 

steps, 125, 126. 

width and material, 126. 
Walks and paths, 196. 
Water, 84. 

Water power, 37, loi, 103. 
Waterfalls, 38. 

scenic value of, 102. 
Watering, 74, 82, 83. 
Western towns, changes that have 

taken place in, 191. 
Wood-lots, 22, 32. 
Woods, 23, 28, 53, 157, 162. 

border of, 63 . 

Zoological gardens, 247. 



Printed in the United States of America. 



